The Daten City Shingami
by BrandonianKnight
Summary: Coren Keitaro is a rather powerful Lieutenant. He's trained to fight demons, to riding zebras. Yeah, he's just that awesome. But the things he's learned hardly apply in this new town, residing on the borderline city between Heaven and Hell, Daten City.
1. Enter, Coren Keitaro

**A/N: Even though this is quite obvious, I do not own Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, or Bleach, as if I did, I would be too busy making a second season of PSG to make fan-fiction. I'm only doing this because I'm really bored, so I may cut off the story before it finishes, unless this somehow gets a large number of reviewers. Pfft, like that's gonna happen. Also, this isn't gonna have Ichigo or people from Bleach, other than the first paragraph. The reason it's a cross-over is because I'm using an OC Shinigami from Bleach. Yup, I can feel the trolls already.**

**Rated M because... Well, if you've seen PSG, you know why.  
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><p><strong><strong>Coren yawned, making Captain Kyoroku sigh.

"Were you even listening?" Coren shook his head. "I said that you are being assigned to a place called Daten City. For some unknown reason, Souls have been changing into beings known as Ghosts, rather than Hollows. The Head-Captain want's you too investigate the abnormality."

"And you want this over with already so you can get back to sleeping. Don't worry, I got this. Chances are though, it's an abnormality caused by an incredibly powerful being using certain abilities to change Souls into Ghosts, but that's just speculative bullshit, so I'ma get going now. When I get back, I'll have either figured out and fixed everything, or I'll have banged to many woman and broke something."

After high-fiving Captain Kyoroku, Coren headed for the Senkaimon. He walked through silently, his Hell Butterfly guiding him through the Precipice World.

"Fuck!" screamed the blond woman as she shot the Ghost. This was the Angel, Anarchy Panty, whom acted like anything but what she was.

"Will you shut up already? We have work to do," said Panty's sister, Anarchy Stocking, the sweets addicted Angel, whom sliced a mini ghost with her sword.

"Ah, this is a waste of time anyway! I want to get back to my goal of fucking 1000 people!"

"You really are a bitchy slut. Can't you go one day without thinking about dicks?"

"Ha, that would be the same as asking you to go one day without sweets." Stocking cut through another mini ghost, but then turned to glare at Panty.

"That's totally different. You can live without a dick inside you, but I can't live without my sweets!"

"Panty, look out!" Panty turned to see the Brief, the orange haired geek whom seemed to take a liking to her, charging her. He tackled her out of the way just in time to keep her from being crushed by the giant rock thrown by the big bad boss Ghost.

"Get off of me Geek Boy!" Panty started to shoot Brief, but since he was human, it had the same as shooting him with a BB gun. The bullets bounce off, but it still stings like a bitch.

"Owowowowow! But Panty, I just-"

"Get back here Geek Boy!" Brief had stood up and backed up a bit, to which Panty had gotten up to chase him.

Coren walked out of the Senkai Gate and looked around. "So, this is Daten Cit- What the fuck?" He looked out in the distance to see a giant black rock with yellow highlights, and a giant grinning mouth. "Is that a Ghost..?" he thought for a second, but was interrupted by what felt to be a rock striking the side of his head. He turned to see a blond woman chasing a geek-ish orange-haired boy, shooting him with a weird looking BB gun. As they ran past him, Coren stuck out his leg to trip Blondy, and when she fell, she slid, making Coren chuckle.

"Fuck! Who the fuck do you think you are, fucking tripping me like that!"

"Who the fuck do you think you are, to be shooting someone like that, not even caring that you could hit a bystander?" was Coren's calm response. "Now then, perhaps you could tell me if that giant rock is normal?" Coren asked, gesturing to the rock in the distance. "I'm new here, so if you could help, I'd forgive you for shooting me upside the face." Coren's tone had an accusatory tone in it, which only pissed Panty off more. She got up, whipping around to look at Coren, and she froze at the sight of him.

"_Holy fuck, he's hot!"_ thought Panty.

**"Damn, she's fuckin' hot!"** Coren sighed, annoyed by the way his Zanpakuto was always thinking. **"And she's feisty too. And look at those huge-"**

"Well?" Coren asked, getting impatient, and slightly annoyed with his Zanpakuto.

"Watch out!" Coren turned to see a huge boulder flying at the two of them. Coren mentally reminded himself to thank the geek for pointing that out, as that boulder looked painful.

"Burakkuonsurōto," he said as he unsheathed his pitch black sword. As the boulder came closer, he swung his blade, letting out a huge wave of energy, shattering the boulder into small BB sized pieces. That hit Geek Boy in the face repeatedly. "Fuckin' rocks."

"**I agree with that,"** said both Panty and his Zanpakuto, Kain. Oh god, she's as perverted as he is.

"This is why I lost my faith in mankind. Get up and run, I don't want you two getting hurt." The giant Ghost-Boulder he noticed upon entry was flying at them at an incredible speed.

"Run! Who the fuck do you think-" Coren suddenly tackled Panty, shutting her up and moving her out of the way of a giant scythe flying at her. Coren drew a handgun he'd bought last time he was in the world of the living, and aimed at the area where the scythe had come from.

"Alright slutty Angels, this Ghost will spell your end." Two red-skinned women appeared, wearing school-girl outfits. They had demon-like tails, and they had weapons.

"**Damn right! Those puppies are lethal!"**

"I'm gonna kill you Kain, if you don't shut up..." he muttered quietly. Now that he looked though, the two of them were pretty hot. Their skirts were incredibly short, showing off their perfect asses, and they certainly weren't lacking in their breasts. Seriously, if Kain could drool, he would be. "Oh great, more distractions."

"**They may be distractions, but they're damn good ones!" **At this, Coren closed his verbal connection with his Zanpakuto as he raised his sword and pointed it towards the two newcomers.

"Now then, get out of the way. I'd much rather not destroy you with the giant rock."

"Oh, so you found a replacement for Geek Boy? I must say, this is a major improvement. With the quality of the men you sleep with, finding him must have been dumb luck."

"I don't have time for this." Coren walked forwards and pushed the two of them out of the way, as he roared, "Blood Kain!" and swung his sword. He let out an even larger blast from his sword, obliterating the giant Ghost in a single blow. "Burn." He sheathed his sword, which then exploded into black flame, engulfing the falling stones, turning them from pebbles to disintegrated ash. Once his sword reformed itself, he turned to the awestruck redheads.

"_I need to kill myself for making that pun." _thought Coren.

"Now then, what were you saying? I believe it was that you called Blondy a slutty Angel?"

"**This just keeps getting better. Where's the popcorn?" **Coren resisted the urge to cut the verbal link again, but decided otherwise. He'd have to re-establish it if he wanted to do any powerful moves anyway. Before the red-skinned girls responded, a little gothic girl with purple hair and pink highlights came down. She had one stocking on, and she was holding a sword with the same pattern engraved in it as the stocking did.

"**Holy shit, those aren't tits, they're moons! Those things are HUGE!" **Coren cut him off again. Being perverted is one thing, but quoting Star Wars incredibly poorly to make a bad tit joke? Now that's going to far. But he was right though, those were some tig 'ol bitties.

"Hmm, I guess the slutty Angel at least has some taste in men, even though all the other men she fucks suggest quite the opposite."

"What the fuck did you just say!" Coren droned out the resulting bickering that came from the four of them, completely bored out of his mind, yet still annoyed beyond belief. Thankfully, something came out to break up the arguing. That 'something,' being a giant stone fist about to slam into Geek Boy. Coren unsheathed Kain as he Shunpoed next to Geek Boy. He blocked the stone fist with the flat of his blade, which he held behind him, parallel to his back.

"You alright there?" after he nodded, Coren asked "What's your name?"

"B-Brief. Breifers Rock." Coren nodded.

"We're gonna need to talk. The women seem to be to bitchy to talk to." Brief still seemed rather amazed that Coren had blocked the fist so offhandedly, with one arm. "The name's Coren Keitaro."

"Hey, who the Hell are you calling bitchy!" screamed Blondy.

"All four of you. Now if you don't mind, I'll be kicking ass while you 4 bicker mindlessly like mentally retarded children." Coren slammed back the stone fist, which exploded, only to reform. "Fuck. Maybe a little change of pace might do well." Coren spun Kain around and said "Cleanse the world with blood and violence. Buraddokain." Coren's blade shattered, it's shards sliding within Coren's flesh. "Element change, Light." his arm glowed with a celestial light as he charged forwards. As the giant Ghost-Boulder turned into a fist again and charged him, Coren leapt to the side as he arm changed into a shining silver blade. He dragged his sword through the stone fist until it changed into a boulder again. It then tried to launch itself into Coren, but he released several hundred shards of the sword, tearing the boulder into tiny pieces, and the only part to hit him was a small black pebble. He caught it as his swords disappeared and returned to his arm, showed by an increase in the light around his arm. The light turned black as he crushed the small Ghost in the palm of his hand, resulting in it turning into 6 golden coins, and the church bell ringing.

"Way to easy." Coren sheathed his blade, but kept it in Shikai. "Well, see you later Brief." he said, pocketing the 6 coins and walking away.

"What the fuck." Coren glanced behind him to see Blondy staring at him. "Give us those coins."

"And why would I do that, ya bitch?" Coren's tone seemed slightly playful, but solely because Kain still had influence. Coren didn't recede from Shikai to sealed state, as Blondy might go bat-shit crazy, but he did lessen Kain's strength.

"Because those are ours." Before Coren could point out he earned them against that stoner, the demonic looking girls interrupted him.

"You killed our Ghost! You just broke one of our rules, and now you will pay!" the way she rolled the r's in Rules was kind of odd, but Coren ignored that part.

"You made that thing?" Count one to that BS speculative theory...

"Yes! I'm Scanty!"

"And I'm her sister, Kneesocks!"

"Wanna know something? I've never heard of any of you."

"What! You bastard!" the four of them all attacked Coren at once. Coren easily deflected each of their attacks, mainly because Scanty and Blondy were trying to beat him to death with their guns, but also because only Goth and Kneesocks had good aim. Sadly, they then made use of their superior numbers, as Goth and Kneesocks attacked at separate times to make it harder to block, and Blondy and Scanty stopped being idiots and shot at him. He deflected every hit, but that wasn't gonna last. As he jumped back, Blondy laughed.

"What, giving up already?"

"Tch. Like Hell I am." Coren swung his sword, releasing a small burst of energy. Goth and Kneesocks deflected it easily, and didn't notice that Coren had bitten open his thumb and purposefully bled on his Zanpakuto.

"Here, give us the coins and I'll show you a night you'll never forget."

"**Take the deal man! You haven't gotten laid in a whole week!"**

"Sorry, but sluts and bitches aren't my thing. Guess that's bit of a double negative for you though." the other three girls began to laugh, but Blondy didn't seem to find it amusing.

"That's it, you may be sexy, but I'm still gonna fuck you up."

"Sorry, but I've already been to Hell once. Wait, you stopped talking about sex, didn't you?" the other three girls pretty much burst out laughing at that, and Panty started shooting at Coren, who disappeared and thwapped her in the back of the head, sending her flying.

"Hey, nobody does that to Panty!" Goth charged Coren just as he tried to speak.

"**Wow, her name's Panty. Schwing!" **Coren got distracted by Kain, and screwed up the wording for his Bankai, and got his cheek cut by Goth's swords. She now had two swords, but no stockings.

"Wait, you can transform your stockings into swords?" Goth looked a little surprised, and Coren took advantage of that. "Drown this world and all others in an endless sea of black blood. Show your Dark and demonic heritage, Buraddokain." a huge wave of energy flooded the area, knocking the four girls to the ground. His blade faded out of existence as all lights dimmed. "I'm tired and hungry. Good night." as all light disappeared, the four girls fell unconscious. Brief was fine though, as Coren targeted just those four girls. "Hey Brief, do you happen to know of any good pizza places? I like pizza."

"W-What did you do to them?" Brief asked, scared that they all had been knocked unconscious.

"In a nutshell? I screwed with their senses. The darkness I pushed them into is actually non-lethal. I can't kill with it. It's only power is complete incapacitation for up to one hour, depending on how strong they are. Anything else probably would've killed 'em, and while they are really bitchy, they ain't that bad."

"I can second that." a man in a black trench-coat materialized next to Coren, though he was only staring at the four unconscious girls. "Damnit, I wish I had a sleep fetish. Then this would be so much hotter." Coren sighed.

"This is my... Friend. And by friend, I of course mean in the terms that the one perverted asshole who lives in his mother's house, and crashes at yours sometimes, and constantly screws up everything for you, is your friend. In short, he's a really crappy friend." Kain shot him a glare, though not one of him being pissed off at what he said, but that he was annoyed Coren wouldn't let him sleep-fuck the four of them. "Ooh, I smell pizza." Coren said, running in a certain direction.

"Damn, his mind is almost as one-track a mine... Hellooooo nurse!" he said, looking at a random passer-by. Coren turned around, grabbed him, and dragged him along to the pizzeria.

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><p><strong>AN: Yeah, I think I might've over-done it just a bit. Anyway, if you actually read this, please review so I can figure out what I should work on.**


	2. Meeting the Priest

I walked into the pizzeria, a grin on my face. I do love pizza... However, upon closer inspection of my pockets, I noticed I hadn't taken any cash with me.

"...Fuck."

"Here, I'll pay." I turned to Brief.

"I'd respectfully decline, but this is pizza. Just a warning, it may hit the wallet a little hard." Brief shrugged, and Coren nodded. He's obviously not as poor as he looks. Then again, that looks like Ghostbuster equipment on his back, and if it works... Damnit, he's talking, and I'm forgetting to listen!

"Hey, how did you destroy that Ghost so easily? You blew it apart in just one shot!"

"The thing was dirt easy, pun not intended. Maybe. Apparently, those things don't take blasts of Holy energy well." Coren shrugged. "Also, my sword's power increases the hornier he gets."

"What?"I laughed at his response. I couldn't quite tell what he was questioning though, that my sword has a mind, or that it gets horny.

"I'm joking." A few more questions were then asked, and it lead to an explanation upon what exactly a Zanpakuto was. It took a while, but not as long as it took for my pizza. Which SUCKED.

"Wait... You mean your sword has a mind?"

"Yes, I do. I just spent the last ten minutes explaining how that makes sense as well. Weren't you listening?" Brief nodded, but he still looked surprised. Well, kinda. The top half of his face was covered by his hair, so he couldn't really tell quite as well as he normally would.

"Here ya go~!" A female waitress then walked up, holding three full-size pizzas.

"**SCHWING!"** DAMNIT DUDE. PRIORITIES. PIZZA, THEN BOOBS. I thanked the waitress as I stared longingly at my pizza.

"No problem~!" She then roller-bladed away, and she seemed to bounce a bit, as if purposefully flashing me a panty-shot.

"**Dude, get up and tap that." **I sighed, and focused on the pizza. **"You know I hate you, right?" **

"Damn right..." I muttered with a chuckle. That was before I began devouring pizza of course. Brief continued bombarding me with questions, and while I did answer him a few times, the pizza got more attention. It _is _pizza after all. Finally, after taking out a full two and a half pizzas, I turned my attention back to Brief. Up to this point, you'd told him about the Court Guard Squads, Zanpakuto's, and Hollows, as well as their link to the Ghosts.

"You should talk to Garterbelt."

"What is with people being named after something sex or clothing related? I noticed that there's Panty, Brief, and now Garterbelt. Then again, tell me who Garterbelt is. My other question is probably not gonna get a decent response."

"Garterbelt is a priest with a huge afro that lives with Panty and Stocking. He tells them about the new Ghosts that appear."

"Wait, so you've got a bitch named Panty, and a Goth named Stocking? And then two demons named Scanty and Kneesocks? Who here has a _normal _name?" Brief had to think for a moment.

"Well, there's Chuck. But he's a dog, so I don't think he counts."

"My head is full of WAT. We should probably see Garterbelt later then, if he's the one who tells us when Ghosts appear. Oh, and one more thing," I said, making Brief tilted his head a little. "You gonna finish that half of the pizza?"

After they finished the pizza, they went off to Teletubby Hill, or whatever it was called. I knocked on the door, and Panty opened it.

"Fuck." She then slammed the door. I knocked again, and this time, Stocking opened it.

"You." She then slammed the door as well.

"Yeah, nice joke." I called out sarcastically, knocking again. After a few seconds of waiting, a giant black priest with an even larger afro opened the door.

"Hello Brief. And who might you be?" Assuming this was Garterbelt, Coren noticed he didn't bend his neck to look down at Coren, he just looked straight down. It looked intimidating, oddly enough.

"The name's Coren. The one who took out that Ghost earlier." Garterbelt nodded.

"The bitchy Angels told me about that." I'm not the only one who thinks of them like that? Good... "Though I would prefer to hear it from you." I nodded, and explained it in a few seconds.

"Hmm. They said that you used some demonic powers to knock everyone out."

"Nope, just darkness. Though I guess I could understand the mixup, they're kinda similar. Ish." I shrugged. "I'm gonna assume that they're still pretty pissed about keeping those weird coins?" Garterbelt nodded again.

"Those are Heaven Coins. They are the currency of Heaven."

"So, you mean Heaven as in post-death kinda thing?"

"Of course!" Hold on, that might get a little confusing with Soul Society and Hell coming into the picture. "The Heaven Coins are the only way for the bitchy angels to return to Heaven!" Ah, kicked out. That makes sense.

"Alright, makes a bit of sense. Mind explaining what Ghosts are, as well as what those demon sisters have to do with them?" Garterbelt nodded, but moved out of the doorway.

"If I'm explaining that much, it would be better for you to come inside." I nodded, and curtly followed him. I looked around, and it looked like a normal church, besides a couple walls that looked like someone set off a pipe bomb there.

"Did a Ghost come attacking a while back?"

"No, Panty and Stocking had an argument this morning."

"I see... Hmm." The walls look like something exploded, but not normally. It looked less like an exploding bullet and more like... "Did one of them almost fly through the wall?"

"It's best not to annoy Panty..." Ah yes, Brief. I forgot, you're here too.

"Seems like it's a bit too late for me, then." I continued looking around. I could see a raised pathway to the left, leading to separate tower. If the angels sleep here, then it should be safe to assume that that's where their rooms are.

"**Who's up for an adventure?" **And this is why I rarely listen to what he has to say.

"Sit here." Garterbelt gestured for a couch in the front of the church. It was huge, pink, and looked like it belonged anywhere _but _a church. I sat down on it, and listened.

"A Ghost is a vengeful spirit from after death!" Huh, I never would've guessed that. "They are spirits who died horrible deaths, and have returned as vengeful spirits to strike at the world!" That sounds a lot like a Hollow. Why does a part of this couch feel sticky? "Ghosts are capable of possessing objects, like the giant boulder you saw! That man was killed by a small rock dropped from the top of one of the twin towers in the middle of this city!" I'm scooting away from whatever that sticky stuff is. "And that is what Ghost is!" Wait, I think I might've missed that.

Eh, don't matter.

"And what's with the demon sisters?"

"They are Scanty and Kneesocks, two high-class commander demons from Hell! Ghosts have been the servants of demons for many hundreds of years. They reside in Hell, and work under Satan!" O rly? "I have told you quite a bit now. Now, would you tell me what you are?" I smiled.

"I am a Shinigami, or Soul Reaper. We hunt the souls of the Hollows, and I was sent here to investigate an anomaly causing human souls to be transformed into Ghosts, rather than Hollows. I come from the Soul Society, a world that human souls are sent after death." Garterbelt nods.

"So you are like an angel?"

"Seems so. But unlike those two who stay here, I'm not exiled, simply on a mission for my Captain." Garterbelt nodded again.

"I see. Then the solution to both of our problems can be easily found."

"**...Is he thinking what I think he's thinking?" **Depends. Seeing as this is you we're talking about, I hope not. **"I'm not that perverted." **Yes, you really are.

"Shall I assume that you have no place to stay?" I shook my head. I almost said I was headed to a hotel, but then remembered I was flat broke, and needed Brief to take the bill for the pizza.

"No, and I don't have any cash."

"Then you shall stay here in the church."

**CRASH.**

"WHAT!" I winced at the assault on my ears from the eavesdropping angels. "You can't let him stay here!" I leaned back on the couch.

"Our missions are very much similar. He is to investigate the Ghosts, and we are to destroy them. It only makes sense that he would stay with us!" Panty slammed her arm into the wall, before yelling loudly.

"That doesn't change anything!" Stocking actually laughed a bit.

"You not wanting a man to stay here? That's a surprise!" Panty whirled around at Stocking.

"**Whoa, catfight!" **Okay, I'll give you that point.

"Shut up! He said it himself, he's pretty much an Angel! And if he's just on a mission and still completely loyal to everything..." She let it finish, and I sighed. Best let Kain do the talking for now. I let his body materialize, and he grinned.

"I wouldn't interrupt this for the world man." He jumped and crashed onto the couch, nearly knocking it over. "Get to the cat fight already!"

"I'm just gonna be quiet, and let you settle this." Kain sighed.

"Damnit, does that mean what I think it does?"

"You make one perverted comment too many, you're going back. Ya hear?" He sighed.

"Yeah, yeah." He turned to Panty and Stocking, and grinned widely.

"You look a lot better in person..."

"Oh yeah, and no drooling."

"DAMNIT MAN, YOU'RE LEAVING ME NO CHOICES. Anyway, I'm gonna talk now, and you two are gonna listen. We have no place to crash, and we're gonna be helping you in combat. Would it really be fair to just toss us out?"

"YES!"

"Well, fuck. I've got nothing." He leaned back in his seat, slumping a bit. "Actually..." He leaned forward and began to think. It was about a minute later that he spoke again. "Nope, still nothing." I face-palmed and sighed.

"How about this? In exchange for letting us crash here, you get the Heaven Coins I got earlier, and any coins that come from a Ghost that you fought along with me."

"...Hmm... Make it all Heaven Coins, and you have a deal!" I smiled, and rose up from my seat.

"Done." I held out my hand to shake, and flicked out the six coins into my palm. She shook my hand and took the coins, and laughed.

"You know, you're not as bad as I thought." She leaned in close to my chest, which made Kain gag on the air. Mainly 'cause she was about half an inch away from my chest.

"Still not fuckin' ya." She pouted.

"Damnit bro, what is wrong with you!" Thank you Kain, for annoying me again. I'd almost forgotten you were there.

"Yeah. Come oooon..!" I took a few steps back from Panty and plopped onto the bed.

"Nah. Fuck Kain if you want, he has no standards." Kain shot up like a springboard.

"DAMN RIGHT I DON'T!"

"That was an insult Kain, an insult. I'm not gonna let my sword fuck a chick. That's just nasty, when I have to hold you for every fight."

"FUCK YOU." He plopped back down, before lowering his voice and talking again. "So, what's the plan? Just wait for the next Ghost to pop out?"

"Uhh... Yeah, about that Kain. Were you listening to what Kyoroku-taecho said about the mission, that I drowned most of out?"

"Nope. He's a pretty cool guy, but _damn_ he gets boring fast when he wants to."

"...Damn. Hey, how fast were you in that form again?"

"...No. He didn't."

"Best to keep up appearances."

"No. I'm not going." Garterbelt raised an eyebrow.

"Our captain signed us up to the school here, in order to help us seem more normal. Kain slept through it."

"Who is this man?" Kain grinned darkly, and was about to go into his huge rant, but I cut him off.

"All Shinigami have swords called Zanpakuto. These swords have minds of their own, and they usually reflect the truer personality of the wielder, in my experience. Kain is my sword, his full name being Kuroi Chi no Kokuō. I call him Kain. He can materialize due to his powers, though if you meet another Shinigami, don't expect his to pop up." I leaned back, though quickly moved forward when I felt the same weird stuff. "Okay, seriously, why is this thing sticky?" Garterbelt immediately shot a glance at Panty, who just smiled innocently. I leaped off the couch with enough force to break a wall, as Kain stared at the spot.

"...Damnit, what was I thinking again..?" As Kain tried to figure out what his train of logic was, I sighed.

"It's still wet! What, did you have sex on it right before I knocked!"

"Five minutes before, actually."

"THAT WAS A RHETORICAL QUESTION. I DON'T NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS."

"Damnit, there goes my train of thought again." I blame you, Kain. I don't know why, but I do. Die in a fire. I walked back toward the couch, and poked it a few times, finding where _not_ to sit. It took me a minute to realize there was no clean place on the thing, and settled with standing. Kain was, of course, lying down on the bed.

"Anyway, where exactly am I gonna crash? I've got no problem with placement as long as it's not with either of them," I said as I pointed at them.

"...You're ruining everything..." I ignored Kain, listening to Garterbelt speak.

"Well then, we do have a spare room in the back. You could sleep there." I nodded.

"Thank you. Now then, if you don't mind, I'll be off. My sleep-deprived brain screams for that which it lacks; To rest." Garterbelt nodded once more. He nods quietly a lot.

"Of course. I will have one of the bitchy angels wake you up when it's time for dinner." I nodded. Should I feel bad I'm leeching off of them? Or are the coins enough to suffice?  
>Fuck it, sleep beckons. Laters, world! I walked to the closed, empty room in the back. Looked kinda like a storage space, but nothing was stored here. I sat down against the wall, and let everything fade to black, slipping into a dreamless sleep. Sleep is niiiiice...<p>

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><p><strong>AN: Yo, I'm actually updating! It's a miracle! It's been... What, a few months for only 2,700 words? Hrrm. I'll need to fix that**  
><strong>Anyway, I noticed that I got a review! Awesome! Thank you Dark demon619 for taking the time to read and review this! I'm glad that Kain got you laughing; I wasn't sure if I overdid his perverseness.<strong>  
><strong>Here's a second chapter, and I hope those reading it will enjoy it! The next chapter shouldn't take too long, or at least not a few months!<strong>


	3. Meet the Demons

"Yo, baka! Wake up!" My eyes shot open, and I placed my hand on my Zanpakuto. "Garter said to wake you up."

"Hello Panty." I pulled myself up, and dusted myself off. "Thank you."

"Tch, just come on! We can't eat until you're there!" I yawned and looked out the window, though as it was covered with a thin tarp, all I could see was that it was night.

"Be right there." Panty walked out of the room, all huffy. She's angry for some reason... I stretched out a bit, in a vain effort of trying to wake up. I ended up leaving the room and using the tried-and-tested method of pouring cold water on your face. "BALLZ, THAT'S COLD." Whelp, I'm awake.

I made my way to the tower next to the church, as it seems like the place that dinner would be held. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted with an incredibly overdone sigh.

"About time!"

"Stuff it, I'm not a morning person." I closed the door behind me, and placed my Zanpakuto next to the door. "...I smell curry." I sat down on a spare chair with a yawn.

"Hey, I don't think any of us introduced ourselves." Good point. "I'm Panty!" I know.

"I'm Stocking." I know.

"And I am the priest, Garterbelt."

"The name's Coren Keitaro, best damn Lieutenant in the Gotei 13 you'll see." Maybe not the best they _won't_ see though. "It's a pleasure."

"Damn right it is!" Panty laughed at her own joke, and nobody decided to laugh with her.

"**I totally did!"** And that's why I said nobody.

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><p>After introductions, nothing of real importance occurred. Just Panty and Stocking talking to each other about sweets and sex.<br>...Was I really expecting anything else?

After we finished, they finally shut up about sexual positions and mint chocolate cakes.  
>Though the cake doesn't sound too bad... Stocking then spoke to Garterbelt.<p>

"Garter, the curry was amazing!"

"I'll second that," I chided in. Garter laughed.

"My curry's good shit. Good black shit." I chuckled, before yawning.

"What's for dessert? What's for dessert?" And back to the sweets. I stood up from my seat.

"I'm off, Kain and I have some adventuring to do. We'll be investigating any random deaths in the city, as well as any suspicious looking areas."

"It's almost midnight, you should go and rest." Ah yes, the voice of reason. How I hate thee.

"That's the point. The darker it is, the more freely I can move. Or do you think people wouldn't find it odd that a man was leaping between buildings in the middle of the day at high speeds?"

"You have a point. But let's not forget that your Captain signed you up to the school." I shrugged.

"I've gotten by on 4 hours of sleep, and still managed to tear through a legion of Hollows. School doesn't scare me." I pushed my chair in and grabbed my Zanpakuto.

"I'm going with!" Panty.

"So am I!" Stocking.

"No! I will not allow it. You two shall rest and go to school tomorrow. Unlike him, your bodies need rest!" A double 'Awww' from them was the last part I heard before slipping out of the tower, and jumping off the cat-walk to the ground. I landed effortlessly, and began to walk around.

* * *

><p>...I'm lost already. I'm sure I've walked past this store at least four times...<p>

"**You know you can fly, right?" **...Fuck, I hate it when you make me look stupid. I moved behind a building before climbing the air with my reiatsu. In about a minute, I was high above the city.

"Alright, let's look for anything suspicious. Blood Kain." My sword released, and it's blade turned black and jagged. I manipulated the darkness in the alleys and such, and could feel everything hidden in the shadows. Let's see... A ton of dumpsters... Discarded sex toys? Who just throws those in a dumpster? You have to burn those!

"What the Hell..?" I tried to feel out the insides of the twin towers in the center of the city, but I couldn't. "It's similar to a reiatsu barrier... That's not normal." I started running to the towers, not sure if this was a good idea.

"**When do you ever have good ideas?"**

"You're still just pissed because I didn't want to fuck everything with a hole." I ignored him as I kept going, but as I landed in front of the place, I felt a feeling of unease coming from the higher floors, which meant I had to climb the distance I just dropped. "Damnit." I leaped to the approximate floor that I felt the unease from, and I saw the two demon sisters, Scanty and Kneesocks, talking to someone in a large chair. I couldn't see his face because of the darkness, and something was hiding him from Kain's abilities. What is he?

"He's quite powerful. He destroyed the Ghost in one swing of his sword." I can hear them?

"Oh really? And how quickly did he defeat you?" Uh... What was it, two seconds in released state? Half a minute otherwise?

"He defeated all four of us in under a minute..."

"Pathetic. You _do_ understand the cost of failure, don't-" He suddenly went quiet, and his gaze turned to me. I ducked out of the way quickly, but not fast enough. I really am not made for stealth ops.

"Sir?" Scanty and Kneesocks followed his line of sight, but neither saw anything.

"Come in here, boy." Shit. I tightened my grip on my sword. Well, what better way is there to get some info?

"**Like I said, you never have good ideas." **How many times do I have to say it? Time and place. I walked back out in the open, and tilted my head in time to avoid a bullet.

"Hold your fire." What? "Come in here boy. You aren't an Angel, are you? That sword..." Damn, I forgot it's released, and this sword looks pretty damn far from holy. "What is your name?" I walked through the now shattered window.

"My name is Coren Keitaro, Shinigami from the Soul Society sent to investigate the abnormality that is the appearance of the 'Ghosts'."

"Soul Society?"

"A world that exists past death that the souls of humans are sent to."

"Do you mean Heaven?"

"They sound similar enough, to a point. Refer to it as you will; I am only in this city to gain information."

"How did you defeat these two so easily?"

"I control darkness. I overloaded their senses temporarily, and knocked them into unconsciousness. 'Twas child's play, to speak the truth." I looked at the demon sisters, and they were gripping their weapons hard enough to turn their red skin white.

"I see. And the attack that destroyed the Ghost... Buraddokain?"

"The ability of the Kuroi Chi no Kokuo lies in it's diversity. It's natural element is darkness, but it was holy light that I destroyed the Ghost with." I noticed that the man they had been talking to was wearing a corset, as well as other incredibly tight clothing. He was constantly lightly tugging on the straps, tightening it further. His eyes also glowed in a similar way to the demon sisters.

"...I see. So you are a Shinigami... Explain what a Shinigami is."

"A Shinigami is a dead human soul, trained as a warrior in the Soul Society."

"And you remember everything from your life?"

"Indeed. Now then, as you have asked me so many questions, may I ask you a few?" He pulled one of the straps even tighter.

"Of course."

"What is going on in this city? The buildup of dark energy is unbelievable. This entire city is being devoured by darkness and despair far quicker than a normal place."

"...I will not say."

"I see. Then tell me this; Why is it that when I can manipulate darkness, I can feel nothing in here?"

"...I will not say."

"I see. What role do you and the demon sisters play in the Ghost's appearances?"

"We 'help' them on their way."

"So you bring about the circumstances that kills them?"

"Of course. How else would we find vengeful spirits?"

"If you're working under Satan, then wouldn't it be easy to summon a Ghost from Hell? After an eternity of torture, I'd imagine they'd be tougher than the pebble you sent earlier." Tighter.

"...I will not say."

"I have one final question; Do you have a map? I'm lost." The straps loosened.

"Demons sisters, escort this man to his destination."

"WHAT!" The nearly threw down their weapons in rage. The glare he sent their way, however, was enough to chill their temper. "Of course sir, we apologize for such an outburst. It will not happen again."

"You are dismissed. And do put away your weapons." Their weapons disappeared, but I didn't catch a good enough glimpse of where they went to.

"Come, Mr. Keitaro." Scanty spoke, and gestured for the door.

"Thank you." I followed them quietly, and in silence we descended the the thirty or so stories I'd flown up. Once we were outside, however, they let down their tight mask, and let the disgust appear on their faces.

"We're not doing this because-"

"Don't bother. I don't need to hear it. Simply tell me which direction Celetubby Hill is, and I will leave, and you can go back to whatever you were doing." Scanty gritted her teeth.

"Unfortunately, we can't just tell you where to go. We have been ordered to escort you."

"...Then lead the way." I curtly gestured for them to begin walking, which they did. Just not happily.  
>You've been oddly quiet, Kain.<p>

"**That wasn't really the time to speak, was it?" **You're learning. We continued walking, and about three minutes in, the silence was broken.

"What are you? Demons like us wouldn't have been beaten as easily as we were by something as simple as sensory overload."

"No, you wouldn't. But I _am_ a Shinigami. I am what I said I am, but my powers could easily differ from what I say."

"If you'll lie about your powers, why would we trust you on your identity?"

"You wouldn't; Isn't that why you're questioning me?" Silence. No comeback?

"You have a point." Odd, only one of them's talking. Kneesocks is completely silent.

"Besides, I have a reason to hide my powers, but none to hide my identity."

"True..." She was quiet for a moment, thinking. "But how do we know you have no reason to hide it?"

"As I said, you don't, and that's why you're asking these questions. Why are you so desperate to make me say that I'm not what I say I am?"

"Because the existence of another Heaven-like world doesn't make any sense."

"No, it doesn't. However, few things in this world will make sense when you know virtually nothing of it." She pursed her lips yet again. "You're not exactly the best at holding an argument, are you?"

"...No." I sighed.

"At least you're honest." I checked my watch. I'd been out for an hour and a half now, mostly the time I'd been lost.

"It is one of our rules to always be honest!"

"Rules?" I slowed down a bit.

"Of course! Rules are made for the sake of order! We have rules that we must always abide by!"

"...How peculiar." Scanty turned to me, annoyed.

"How is it peculiar!"

"Demons who always follow the rules, and Angels who discard them as easily as trash. I grew up seeing the exact reverse of this. It feels odd that this is the case." I walked past Scanty, and she quickly picked up the pace.

"Don't you always follow the rules?"

"Most of the times? Yeah. But sometimes, rules are meant to be broken, or the rules are unjust. Such rules deserve not to be abided by, but to be abolished. Do you not see it in a similar way? Do you follow the word of your master loyally and obediently, without caring of the suffering it causes?" This brought about silence for the remainder of the return trip.

"We have arrived at Celetubby Hill." Kneesocks finally spoke up. We were standing at the bottom of the hill, though the church was still out of sight. Then again, that makes sense, seeing as they're demons.

"Thank you for escorting me here; The company was actually quite enjoyable." I bowed to the two of them, and left.  
>What, just 'cause they're my enemies, I can't be polite?<p>

I went inside of the church and let a yawn escape. The place was dark, but Garterbelt was still awake. He was standing there, staring at me.

"Good, you have returned. I recommend you rest immediately. You will be awakened in six hours." Was he waiting for me? Or did he somehow notice that I'd been escorted by the demon sisters?

"Thank you. I bid you good night, priest." He nodded, and I walked past him, into the storage room that I was to call my own. I sat down against the wall again, as it's more comfortable than the floor.

"**Is that respect I feel?** **You respect them? Talk about idiotic."**

"I simply respect how they abide by their rules. Little else. I shall rest now, don't interrupt me."

"**Of course." **I closed my eyes, and drifted to sleep once more. Still a dreamless one, but I got the feeling that would change soon enough.

* * *

><p>"Watch that boy." Corset spoke to the demon sisters. "He... Interests me."<p>

"Do you think he might be Hellmonkey's blood kin?"

"He may be. We mustn't disqualify any possibility. Watch him; Even if he isn't, he would make a valuable ally. I examined his records. He is going to Daten City High, so it shouldn't be _too_ much of a stretch to assume that you can keep an eye on it, is it?"

"No sir!" The both spoke in unison. "We will watch him," Kneesocks continued. "And we will do our best to have him join us."

"Good. Very good..." Corset tightened his straps one more time, before rising, and curtly leaving, deep in thought. "It's only a matter of time..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Two chapters in a matter of hours... I'm feeling good. I think the quality of this chapter dropped a small bit, though. I think I hurried it too much.**

**This chapter isn't as long as I'd hoped, but I think it does what I wanted it to rather well. Unfortunately, it doesn't have as many jokes as I'd like... Eh, I'll live. It was supposed to be serious, after all. Jokes are for the Angels. Also, am I the only one who thinks the dialogue feels... Too fast? Like I'm not putting enough words in it? Or is that just me?**

**Oh yeah, and OBVIOUS FORESHADOWING. Did you notice it? I bet you did, you glorious bastards.**


	4. Fighting a Powerful Enemy

**A/N: Yet another chapter. I'm updating faster than I expected...**  
><strong>Not much else to say, so now it's time to respond to my reviewer!<strong>

**Dark demon619:**

**You know, I was actually planning yo add Hollows. I thought it might be interesting to see how Ghosts or the the angels would interact with them.  
><strong>**And by canon characters, I meant named ones. Like Ichigo.**

**The chapter was meant to mainly just be dialogue. I felt like I needed to practice a bit with it, as well as get Coren to meet Corset.  
><strong>**Mainly, Chapter 3 was there to get Coren to meet the demon sisters, and Corset. That was it's point, and I think I that while it could've been done better, it did come out decently well. It didn't interest me much, as it was intros, but now that they're introduced, all that's left is their attempts at watching him, and then I can get to the stuff that _really _interests me. Can you guess what?**

**The first few pages I think are kinda 'Eh', but I'd like to know what you think of them.**

**Now that that's done, it is time to begin!**

* * *

><p>"Good morning, Coren Keitaro." My eyes shot open. Garter was standing there, staring at me the same way as when we first met. Simply looking down, no tilt of the neck. It's still intimidating...<p>

"Mornin'. School time?"

"Indeed. Best to get changed into something more fitting for school." I looked down and saw I was still wearing my Shihakusho.

"Yeah, probably."

"Panty and Stocking will be leaving shortly; You'd better go quickly." I stood up and reformed my reiatsu around me. At one point, there was a guy who wore reiatsu like clothes... He was a freakin' genius. I turned my Shihakusho into some normal looking apparel. A sky blue T-shirt with a large flaming skull on the back, and in the front, huge letters that spelled out 'Who the Hell do you think I am?' I was also wearing some navy blue jeans to go along with it.

"Alright, I'm good to go." I slipped past Garterbelt, and ran out the door.

"About time! We were waiting!" I noticed that Panty and Stocking were sitting in a giant pink Jeep, that would seem military if it weren't so damn PINK. I leaped onto the top with a smile. Real men don't care about color!

"Excuuuse me, princess. Get driving, unless you want me late for my first day." I immediately regreted saying then, when she broke Mach 10 in five seconds flat. Maybe standing on the back of the car was a bad idea... Luckily, it was a short drive when you're going the speed of sound, and I could hold onto a large bar that was there.

"There, you won't be late. Ya happy?"

"Yes, but I don't think my arms or colon are."

"**I don't even have a stomach, but it's still churning." **My thoughts exactly Kain.

"Alright, this place seems decent." I spawned a leather jacket with the same flaming skull on it's back, and slipped it on, as well as a pair of shades. Indoors. "Damn right." Stocking managed to get Panty to actually park the car after a few minutes, reminding her of some incident with a tow truck and a camera that shouldn't have been recording. Luckily for me, my brain censors that kinda stuff for me, so I know nothing. Thank God.

I stepped off of the Jeep, which was named See-Through, and started walking. A few weird looks were tossed at me, but that's probably because I was riding a giant pink Jeep into school. Or it might be the indoor shades.

"Hey, Coren!" Hrrm? It's Brief. I took off my shades and smiled.

"Yo, what's happening?"

"Not much... I didn't know you'd be coming to this school!"

"Is there another school I don't know about? HRRRRMM!"

"Uh..." A moment of silence. Is this question really that hard?

"I'm kidding. Damn right I'm coming here. Seriously, you got two Angels and two Demons walking the halls. Kain would kill me if I didn't come here and watch for a cat-fight."

"**It's funny 'cause it's true!" **Shut up. Brief nodded.

"Okay. So anyway, did you hear about-" I looked behind him, and noticed a huge red carpet coming right at the two of us.

"Hey, Brief, I'm sure that's really interesting, and I'm gonna let you finish, but you might wanna step to the side." I moved out of the way, but Brief only gave a brief 'Huh?' and I sighed as the carpet flew right into the back of his head, comically sending him flying. "...I don't think physics work that way."

"Ow, my head..." I took a look down the red carpet, and saw Scanty and Kneesocks walking down it.

"Hello, you two." I bowed curtly to them. They were the daughters of the Mayor, in public views, I don't think the Mayor has devil children, and I always enjoyed the formalities. Never figured out why, though.

"There's no need to bow," Scanty said quickly, "We're just students after all."

"Even so, it would be disrespectful to do otherwise." I walked over to Brief and helped him up. "You two should probably apologize for smashing into his head with that carpet. It looked kinda painful." The demon sisters looked a little surprised. Didn't they notice him soaring through the air majestically, like an eagle? Piloting a blimp? They bowed deeply, and apologized quickly. If I didn't know better, I'd assume they're trying to get on my good side...

And I don't know any better.

"I-It's nothing, I'm fine!" Scanty and Kneesocks rose from their bow.

"Alright then." Huh, they got over that quick. "Coren, would you like to walk with us?"

"Actually, I'm going with the Angels. They_ did _drive me here after all."

"You don't have a car of your own?"

"I fought you two a couple minutes after I came to this world. Not really much time for that, is there? Besides, it's not like I need one. I can walk on air, or use Shunpo after all." The two of them tilted their heads in confusion. "Shunpo is just moving faster than the eye can perceive." I shot a look at the clock. "Which is something I might need if I don't wanna be late for class, actually."

"Well, you'd better hurry. It wouldn't be good if you were late to the first class of your first day."

"Too true." I sprinted to the classroom, and made it there a minute before class began. Lucky me... I ended up nearly falling asleep mid-class, but apparently this teacher can shoot daggers with his eyes, making me bolt upright. I should be able to catch some Z's later. Like, next class...

* * *

><p>The bell for lunch rang quickly, and jolted me out of the tiredness I felt. Maybe sleeping would've been a better idea than roaming around last night...<p>

"Coren?"

"Hmm?" I turned and saw the demon sisters, yet again. How odd. "What's up?"

"Would you like to eat with us?" Hrrm. This raises suspicion... They might be up to something...

"Sure. Just give me a minute." They smiled. Is there a better way to find out if they're planning anything? Probably, I just can't think of it.

"Alright. We'll be in the cafeteria." They spoke in unison, before leaving. I slipped my books inside of the bag I made, before Brief stopped me.

"What are you doing? Aren't those two our enemies?"

"...I'm going to eat lunch with them. And yes, they are...I'm pretty sure you knew that though." My tone must've surprised him, because his tone changed.

"If they're our enemies, why're you going to eat lunch with them?"

"Being their enemy is no reason for bad manners; And it would be impolite to decline their request without good reason. Besides, I'm hungry, and there's food." I slung my bag over my shoulder, before walking out the door, and right into Panty, knocking us both down.

"Fuck! Watch where you're going!" I coughed a bit, seeing as she accidentally slammed her forehead into my chest.

"Sorry Panty." I stood up, and offered her my hand. When she took it, she nearly dragged me down to the ground as she got up, but seeing as I'm a mawn, I stood my ground.

"We came here to ask you if you wanted to have lunch with us. Seeing as you're new, you probably don't have anybody to eat with, after all!"

"Sorry, but I'm taken for this lunch period." Panty looked surprised, and I noticed Stocking also was there, just not being surprised. "Is it really that odd? Personally, I think it's the jacket." Panty shook her head, and returned to reality.

"No way, you've been here for less than a day! Who'd go to lunch with you?"

"That would be the demon sisters, actually." And cue even more surprise. "Brief, just tell them what I said to you, about politeness and stuff. I'm lazy, and off to the cafeteria." I walked past them, and walked around. It took me a few minutes to finally find the cafeteria, but when I finally did, I was welcomed with a decent aroma.

Not good, mind you, just decent.

"Coren!" There they are. Wait, when did we get to first name terms? "We're over here." I walked towards their table, and noticed that the odd flower centerpiece. It was odd in that it was in a school cafeteria, yet the flowers looked somewhat... Regal. It might be the purple. Yeah, it's probably the purple.

"Yo, what's up you two?" I pulled out my seat before sitting. "Anything interesting happen while I was wandering?" Scanty shook her head.

"No, not exceedingly. Did you see anything interesting?" I shrugged.

"No, not exceedingly. But I did realize I may need a map for this place, despite this place being shaped in a cross, and being in just four...Directions... Yeah, that's kinda demoralizing, actually. Anyway, who was that guy you were with last night? The guy who questioned me?" The two of them looked at each other.

"That was the mayor. He's..." Kneesocks trailed off. Okay, never mind, I could totally see the Mayor having demon children. That guy was _creepy._

"He seemed a bit odd. His scent is similar to yours, so is it safe to assume he's a demon?"

"His scent?"

"As I said to the mayor, the true power of my weapon, Kuroi Chi no Kokuo, is in diversity. In his standard state, all of my senses are augmented. My weapon was released when I walked in, so I probably could've even told you all of the ingredients in the perfume the two of you were wearing, including inactive ones, as well as where you'd been recently." Their eyes widened. Maybe that was a bit of an overstatement...

"You're quite powerful."

"Damn right I am. Oh yes, food. That's why we're here, is it not?" You know one of the perks of eating with the mayor's daughters? We get menus, and I don't have to move my lazy ass from my seat. It's awesome.

"Of course." Scanty snapped her fingers, and a student pretty much materialized next to her. "What would you like Coren?" I shrugged.

"Surprise me." I leaned back in my seat. "But whatever it is, get a lot of it." After Scanty and Kneesocks told him what they wanted, he was off sprinting to the counter. I looked over the two's faces when they turned back to me, and the expressions on their faces kinda intrigued me.

"Penny for your thoughts?" They looked to each other again, and I noticed that they did that when it came to the mayor, too.

"We're just thinking that it's a bit odd that you'd accept to have lunch with us, being that you spend so much time with those slutty angels." I tilted my head in confusion.

"It's weird. Everybody seems to think that just because someone's your enemy, you shouldn't be polite to them. Manners should extend to everyone. You may end up fighting me at some later point, but that's still a later point. We're not fighting yet, so I have no excuse to be impolite. I guess you could call that one of my own personal rules, actually." They nodded. "Hey, speaking of rules, did you two think about what I said last night? The whole 'blind obedience' thing." The once again shot each other glances yet again.

"We have, actually. But we'd prefer not to talk about it. We'd rather keep this talk upbeat." I nodded. After that, we just chatted about the random things of Daten City. Not really much... Much like the school day. I slept through one half of it, and managed to keep myself from looking bored for the other half.

Well, it could be worse. I slipped my bag over my shoulder, and walked out of class quietly.

"Yo, Coren!" I turned to see Panty and Stocking walking towards me.

"What's up?"

"Garter's calling us, he says something big's coming. And it's not a normal Ghost."

"If you call a giant boulder with a face 'normal' then I'd hate to see what isn't. Where is it? Shouldn't be too hard to beat it with the three of us." Panty and Stocking looked at each other. Why does everybody do that?

"Uh... We don't know. Garter said he needed you there before he'd tell us what the paper said."

"Paper? No, never mind. I'll ask later. Let's go." The three of us charged through school, much to the chagrin of the other students, and jumped in See-Through. Shunpo would be faster, but they need to be there too. Thanks to Panty's light-speed driving, we were there in just a few minutes. It's a damn good thing I train in Shunpo, or else my stomach wouldn't really be happy.

Oh wait, it isn't happy anyway. I walked into the church with the other two.

"Good, you're finally here." Garter turned to us, holding what looked to be a piece of singed toilet paper. "You took your time. I have received a message from God!" ...Get to the point. "He has sent us this hint! It says 'Large Hollow.' I believe when you introduced yourself to me, Coren, you said that you were here because souls weren't turning into 'Hollows'?" I nodded.

"If a Hollow is coming, then it might be best to let me handle it. I don't know if your weapons can hurt one." I ran my hand along my Zanpakuto's sheath. "It shouldn't be too hard." Garter nodded.

"We'll let you handle it, but Panty and Stocking will still be there to back you up in case of emergency."

"Sounds fair." Hrrm... This city is being devoured by darkness... Will that effect the Hollow? "Be careful though. I don't want you two dying this early in the game."

"Who do you think we are? We're not gonna lose against some two-bit Ghost!" I sighed. If it's just a Hollow, it won't be too hard. That boulder was harder than one. I won't need backup.

"Go, and destroy this unholy menace!" Garter pointed dramatically towards the door, and I sighed again. This feels more and more like some anime lately, and it's kinda annoying. I let Panty and Stocking leave before me, but before I left, Garter stopped me. "Be careful. I can feel it's energy, and it's a lot stronger than a normal Ghost." I grinned.

"I'm always careful. See you when I kill the thing." I walked out the door. "Kain, what can you see?"

"**...He's right. This thing isn't a normal Hollow. It's quite powerful, but there's only one. It should be a piece of cake for a Vice-Captain like yourself."** I nodded.

"Alright then. Let's go kill some things."

* * *

><p>I felt it's energy gradually grow as I Shunpoed towards it. It was on the opposite side of the city, and as I ran, something felt wrong. I know we've been saying it a lot, but it's still true.<p>

"Do you recognize this spiritual energy?"

"**No. I think I've smelled something similar, but nothing quite like this. I think the city's corruption is fucking with my senses."** I nodded. That does make sense.

"Alright. Just making sure." Thirty seconds away. Wait... Hold on. I slowed down, and looked over at where it was.

Someone was fighting it.

"**Hold on, Panty and Stocking aren't here yet. You left them in the dust."**

"...Damn." I increased speed a bit more, and got there in time to see a Hollow around twice my size tossing the demon sisters away like flies. "I thought so."

"**Shit. Watch out, that thing isn't normal. It feels almost... Like an Adjuchas." **Well, fuck me. I dashed forwards as I unsheathed my Zanpakuto. The Hollow turned to me as I drew my blade, but as I swung, it instantly disappeared.

"Behind you!"

"Energy Flare!" I released a large amount of energy, launching me out of the way, as well as leaving a nice little burn mark in the Adjuchas's chest. It roared in outrage, before speaking.

"A Shinigami? I should've expected that." What the Hell is an Adjuchas doing in the world of the living? Soul Society would've noticed it by now.

"**I said 'like' an Adujchas, bro. He isn't secreting spiritual energy properly. They couldn't have noticed."**

"Damn right you should've," I said, addressing the Adjuchas. I stood up straight, and looked him over. He was around 12-13 feet tall, his skin was gray, and the burn mark I made was healing quickly. One of his arms was a giant serrated blade that looked like it would hurt like Hell, and the other was an arm that was about as large as me. His legs were shaggy, and had hooves at the bottom, and his mask was shaped similar to a wolf's, but with horns. "The name's Coren Keitaro. Remember that. At least for these final minutes of yours, anyway." The Adjuchas laughed.

"You? Beat me? You have the spiritual energy of an un-seated officer." He knows the ranks for the Gotei? "Come at me with all you've got; You won't be able to scratch my skin." He crouched down a small bit, as if readying himself to pounce. Where have I seen something like this guy..?

"Coren, he's behind you!" I refocused on where he'd been standing, and noticed he was gone. Even with Kneesock's warning, I couldn't do anything but go flying across the battlefield. I looked around and noticed that in my hurry, I'd actually run to the top of one of the twin towers. That explains why the twins are here. I stood up and looked for the guy.

"Not this time." The Adjuchas tried to do the same attack again, but this time, I dodged. "Buraddokain! Darkness Wave!" I released my sword as I swung it, and released as much energy as I could in one shot. The Adjuchas exploded in dark energy, and was thrown off the side of the building.

"Nice shot." Fuck, what? "Could've been better." I dodged out of the way of the guy's leg as he swung it.

"And how did you get back up here?" The Adjuchas grinned behind his mask.

"Simple. You think I forgot something as simple as Shunpo?" Fuck, what? Hollows can't know Shunpo. But then again... That would explain the teleporting. I quickly dodged below his next kick, and jumped over his punch with the giant fist. But just as soon as I was in the air, he'd just Shunpoed up, and smashed his fist into me. There was a nice, resounding crack in my spine as I was launched down several floors of the building.

"Oh you motherfucker." I stood up. "Buraddokain, element change. Fire." I leaped into the air as my sword lit aflame. The fire turned black as I swung it towards the Adjuchas. He easily dodged, but I spoke again. "Flaming Blast." The flames shot forwards from the blade, and the Adjchas howled in pain.

Didn't stop it from slamming it's fist into my face. As I flew back, I jumped off of the flames back towards him.

"Coren, duck!" My eyes shot to Kneesocks, who was holding her scythe. I used an explosion of flames to knock me downwards, forcing me into the floor as a scythe flew over my head. It lodged itself into it's chest, and Scanty pulled out her twin guns. I leaped upwards to dodge the bladed arm of the Adjuchas, which then got pelted with bullets from Scanty. Kneesocks ran forwards with her scythe, and I dodged out of her way. She tore open the Adjuchas's flesh easily, but got flung back again. Both scythes were now lodged in his chest.

How 'bout I make use of that?

I leaped forward and used fire to move me away from his fist. I then slammed my sword into his chest, and grabbed the scythes. He smashed his arm into me, sending me flying, but I'm pretty sure it hurt a lot less than the feeling of both scythes being brutally torn from his body. I tossed Kneesocks her scythes as I charged at my sword, still in his chest. Scanty provided cover-fire, and I got to my sword without getting hit, thanks to that. As I pulled out my sword, Kneesocks leaped in the air for it's throat, and almost got a clean shot of, but he slammed me from his body, and I collided with Kneesocks. We both flew backwards, but I landed with her on my chest.

Ignore the need to breath for now, that can wait. I moved Kneesocks off of me, and noticed she was unconscious. Then again, she just got hit by 200 pounds of flying muscle, so I'm pretty sure that's normal. I did manage to get my sword though, which is a plus. As I stood up, the angels finally decided to grace us with their presence.

"Yo, sorry we're late! But now we're here, Anarchy Panty and-" She was cut off when the Adjuchas punched See-Through off the building, nearly taking them with it. As it flew, I could swear I heard something say 'Chuck' loudly, though it was probably my imagination. "What the fuck! You don't just interrupt me!"

"Panty, dodge left!" She seemed surprised for a second, but still managed to move, and avoided a giant blade to the top of the head.

"Damnit! Fuck, shit, damn!" Panty grabbed her hair, and I noticed some of it had been cut off. "FUCK!" She drew out her weapons quickly and charged at the Hollow, and Stocking did the same. Scanty still covered us with her guns, and Kneesocks was still out like a light.

...Fuck it, let's roll.

"Spread fear and darkness through the minds of my foes. Bankai! Bleed Black, Kuroi Chi no Kokuo!" My sword turned pitch black with red highlights as I activated my Bankai, and another man appeared beside me. His skin was as black as the blade, his hair the same. Blood dripped from his fingertips and hair, but it less crimson, and closer to black as well. He wore Kain's trench-coat, but it was torn and frayed, and several crimson red tattoos on his chest were seen.

"**Burn. ****Ō no Honō.****" **Black fire erupted around the two of us, and we charged forwards. A blade identical to mine appeared in his hand, but inverted. We cleaved into the Adjuchas as Scanty and Panty shot where ever the flames weren't, and Stocking cut into the holes made by our blades, deepening the wounds.

"No... I will not die!" The Adjuchas slammed his fist directly into Stocking, and I heard something break. She was unconscious in the first hit. The second blow almost came down, but Scanty and Panty knocked it aside with their bullets. It turned to them as it roared. It's eyes turned red, and it's skin tinged black.

"It's a Ghost!" Panty was shocked for a second, and that gave it just enough time to smash into her with the force of a semi-truck. She flew off the building, and I wasn't even sure if she was conscious enough to land without dying.

"Fuck, not good. Kuroi, get her."

"**Yes sir." **Kuroi leaped off of the edge, chasing after her. My Bankai is draining me a lot faster than I want... I'm still just a Lieutenant, so I haven't mastered my Bankai yet. It still felt like someone was carving me open with a super-heated blade. The Adjuchas charging at me shot me back to reality, and I swung my blade as I spoke.

"Buraddokain, element change. Light!" With a blinding burst of light, I tore right into his flesh as he clothes-lined me.

If I were in a mortal body, I think that might've torn my head off my body. His body had a damn lot cuts all over it, as well as bullet holes. I don't think it can take much more. Then again, neither can I, so I think we're still even. I flew over the side of the building, but I managed to create a platform of reiatsu before I fell. I bounced on it, _hard_, before getting back up.

"Adjuchas are supposed to be on par with Lieutenants... I guess that much was right." Scanty was still shooting at it, and it finally turned it's attention to it.

"Why won't you die!" It Shunpoed behind her, and nearly took her head off with it's bladed arm, but she ducked in time. She slammed the muzzle of her gun into one of the slash wounds in his side, and filled it with a few bullets before flying away.

Right into my chest. Is it aiming these shots? I slid backwards as I coughed up a bit of blood. That's probably not good... I placed Scanty on an adjacent building, and charged back at the Adjuchas. Just as I reached the building, I noticed Kuroi coming up behind him.

"**Aisukingu no Supia." **Spear of the Ice King. It lodged itself into the Adjuchas's chest, but it only screamed in pain, still not falling. Kuroi went flying, but I solidified the reiatsu in the air below him, and he leaped off of it.

I've got less than a minute of Bankai left. This is far from good.

"**Coren." **I nodded. I have enough energy for one shot; Might as well use the biggest thing I've got.

"Kage-ō no Kyanon!" Kuroi disappeared as black energy coated my arm. "EAT THIS!" I dodged past his blade arm and giant fist, barely, and pushed every bit of energy in my Bankai into a single blast; It would probably have the force of... A few torpedoes? I slammed my arm right into his mask, and the entire thing blew the fuck up; Blood, guts, the works. It began disintegrating as I heard a chuckle.

"I see. You really are all they made you out to be... Mr. Keitaro." I dropped to my knees, and looked around for the voice. No one was in sight, but I knew better than to trust my eyes. I focused as much as I could, and felt out for any abnormalities in the reiatsu.

...There. I shot a glare two feet to my left, and around six ahead. There is absolutely no reiatsu right there; A logical impossibility, unless someone's hiding. I heard his footsteps as he began walking away. I would give chase, but I'm kinda half dead. I'm pretty sure my spinal column broke a while back, meaning I should be dead already, and my arm was burned badly where the darkness had contacted it. And then there was the fact that my skull's probably fractured from my impact into the ground earlier, and a few of my ribs are broken thanks to a flying Kneesocks, and Scanty might've got me to puncture a lung.

Thank God for super healing powers, and for already being dead. Holy fuck though, does it hurt. I let myself black out from the pain, and dropped into a painful unconsciousness.

I am gonna figure out who let a Adjuchas into the world of the living, and they are gonna regret it. A LOT.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I like this chapter... I feel like I put a large deal of emphasis on the fight, possibly too much, but I like it. It helped shine some light on Coren's powers, and gave Kain's true appearance, not just the black haired guy in a trench-coat. Right now, I have no idea where I'm gonna go with this, but I think I'll pause for a few days. I'm feeling good about this 10-page chapter, and I kinda wanna pause and re-watch PSG, and some of Bleach. Three Chapters in around 20 hours is enough, I think, especially with one being 5000 words.**

**Oh, and does anybody know if anybody in Bleach has a Bankai that materializes their Zanpakuto Spirit in a physical body suited for combat? I'm not sure, and it seemed like a good idea. What do you think? I'd like to know if I did anything wrong, or if there's anything I should work on. Constructive criticism ftw!**


	5. Reminiscing in the Land of Dreams

**A/N: Yo, what's happening people? I have returned again, bringing gifts! Well, just one, really, and it's this chapter... Eh, you know what I mean. I forgot how short PSG was, and ended up watching the whole thing the same day as the last update, and spent the rest of my time re-watching Bleach. It's a damn good thing I have no social life, or this might be updating slower...**

**Anyway, onto my reviewer!**

**Dark demon 619:**

**Yeah, I update as fast as I can. I dislike keeping people waiting, so in the end, I end up writing faster than I expect... Good to know that you're liking the speed though! And yeah, Gurren Lagann reference. I freakin' LOVE Gurren Lagann. It is my favorite anime... Kamina and post time-skip Simon are pretty damn awesome, even if Simon's taste in clothes seems to have declined in time... That band on his stomach looked weird.**

**I liked this fight scene as well... Fights have always been my favorite thing to write. Writing down their actions in combat and watching it unfold in the confines of my mind is very fun. I liked this battle a bit more than the others that I write, mainly because of what I have planned. You're right in assuming there is a reason a Hollow knows Shunpo, but I will admit nothing more!**

**And yeah, it feels a bit weird that you're the only reviewer. I noticed that this story got a + from one other guy, but other than that, this thing is completely quiet. It's kinda demoralizing... But making it larger should get the attention of others, so I'll just keep on updating!**

**That's it for this Author's Note. Now, on to the story!**

* * *

><p>I opened my eyes. Everything was dark, but the room had a feeling of familiarity, and a scent I felt I should know...<p>

"Good morning, Coren Keitaro." ...You know, this being my room might explain that.

"Mornin' Garter." I stood up, and started checking my muscles. Everything only felt sore, but if I'd used too much reiatsu, it might've impacted my physical body. Never hurts to make sure, right? "What's up?"

"Not very much. Nothing has occurred since the last Ghost that you fought. Even the demon sisters have kept quiet."

"Yeah. They won't even berate us on our taste in things anymore." I looked behind Garter to see Panty and Stocking, both awake. Stocking was using a crutch to stand properly, and Panty had a cast for her arm. Makes sense, seeing as that Adjuchas could tear through a building with the blows he hit them with.

"And that's a bad thing?" Almost all of my body was fine, if a little sore. Rest was all I needed for a speedy recovery...

"Well, if you put it that way, not really. It's just... Different."

"Yeah, different is kinda weird. Did they ask about me?" Panty tilted her head in confusion.

"No, why would they?"

"Well, I've been out for... Actually, how long have I been out?"

"Four days." I nodded.

"I've been out for four days, and they seemed incredibly chummy on my first day. They asked me to walk to class with them, to have lunch with them, and actually seemed friendly in most cases. I'd think that they'd ask about me if I disappeared, but apparently, I thought wrong." I began to stretch out my arms and legs; Even if I was sore, I think a walk would be good for me.

"That does make sense... But why would they want to hang out with you?" I smiled a little.

"Like I said; It's totally the jacket. That thing's pretty damn awesome." Speaking of which... I looked down at my attire, and noticed I was back in my Shihakusho. Well, at least I know it reverts to this after I go unconscious.

...I just realized that I fought the Adjuchas wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and a badass jacket. I'm not sure if I should feel good or bad about that...

"Anyway, I'm going out for a stroll. Sitting in bed's never been my thing, even if my body seems partial to it." I changed my clothes into the same blue shirt and jeans, and slipped on the jacket. "Later." As I walked forward, Garter tried to stop me.

"You took far more damage than either of them. Your spinal column was broken, a lung was punctured, a few ribs shattered, and your skull was cracked open like an egg. You're in no condition to be walking around." I chuckled.

"That's the great thing about already being a dead spirit and having Kain as a Zanpakuto. His energy reserves are nearly limitless, and in unconsciousness, he repairs my body. I'm right as rain right now, though the new ribs kinda itch." Okay, yeah, that was a bit of a bluff. My ribs weren't fully regenerated, and my skull was still cracked. While my diagnosis of my condition was spot on, I'm definitely not happy about it.

"...I see. I still want you to remain here, and rest. Using enough energy to heal injuries of that level must have been taxing."

"Not exceedingly. After all, it's been four days. I heal quickly, and my reiatsu regenerates even faster. I'm right as rain, if you'll forgive the metaphor." Garter gritted his teeth.

"You will remain here." My smile faded away. Well, that kinda statement strips this of any fun.

"No, I won't. And any attempt at keeping me here would be ill-advised. I'm bored. I wanna walk. Nothing will occur out there that could be a threat; You said yourself that all's been quiet lately." Garter looked like he was gonna yell at me, but Panty cut in.

"Aah, just let him do it Garter. Arguing with him would be worse than with us. There's really no point to keeping him here anyway. He wouldn't sleep even if we hit him with enough drugs to kill an elephant." Garter sighed.

"Fine. You may leave, Coren Keitaro. But if something occurs, then do note that you were warned." I nodded.

"Nothing'll happen, but if something does, I'll keep that in mind." I walked past the three of them.

"Sorry 'bout letting you two get the shit kicked out of you by that thing. He was a lot stronger than I expected, and I paid for that."

"Eh, it's nothing more than a few scratches!" Panty waved it off with her un-wrapped hand, and I sighed.

"Alright, whatever you say. I'll be back in... Hell, I dunno. Tomorrow I guess?" I shrugged. "If I'm not back by morning, make sure I didn't puke on some important guy's shoes while too drunk to remember." I waved to them as I walked out of the church. "Where should I go first..?"

* * *

><p>I wandered around the city for a bit, just looking around. Daten City, the town built upon the fault-line between Heaven and Hell... It's a pretty interesting place. It wasn't until I reached the twin towers at the center of the city that I noticed where I was.<p>

"...Is it just me, or am I always finding my way back to this place?" Maybe not always, but it's definitely odd that this's the place that I fought the Adjuchas, and the only place in this city I can't feel out. I ran my hand along my Zanpakuto's sheath before making my way inside, this time from the front door.

"Mr. Keitaro?" The secretary at the front was absentmindedly tapping a pencil against the desk as she spoke. How does she know my name?

"Yeah, that's me."

"The mayor is expecting you. I'll call up an escort now." ...Escort? "Miss Scanty, Miss Kneesocks, please come to the lobby." She sighed as she leaned away from a small microphone. "Now then, please sit. They will be here shortly." She gestured towards a chair in front of a glass table, which was one of many. I sat down, and I waited quietly. The silence was annoying, but I never really felt the need to break it.

"We're here." Scanty and Kneesocks walked out of the elevator to the left of me, and the secretary spoke to them.

"I was told that you were to escort this man to the mayor." She pointed at me, and they turned.

"Coren? What are you doing here?" Kneesocks spoke up first, and I responded with a shrug.

"I went for a walk, I got lost, I walked in here at random, secretary somehow knows my name, and now I'm being told that the mayor is waiting for me." I stood from my seat, and shot a glance at the clock. I'd been wandering for about half an hour. "Shall we?" Scanty and Kneesocks nodded.

"Of course. This way, please." They walked back into the elevator, and I followed. They set it for the 24th floor, and we just waited. Not in silence, though.

"What was that thing? Yesterday." I shrugged.

"It looked like a Hollow, but it knew a Shinigami move, and it had the appearance of a Ghost near the end. I'd say somebody's fucking with the natural order of things, but nobody I know of has the skill to do that kinda thing." I sighed, and leaned against the wall. "Whatever it was, though, it was as strong as a Vice-Captain. And something like that here? Not good."

"Were you hurt?" Ah, that reminds me. I looked over the two of them briefly, to check for wounds. Kneesocks was obviously favoring one leg, and Scanty's breathing was a bit heavy. I guess when they flew into me, the landings weren't exactly the best...

"I was, but I'm fine now. Can't say the same thing about the Hollow, though." They nodded.

"I see. That's good." The two of them seemed to get a little tenser for a moment, but I just went with the reason being that we're headed to the creepy mayor. I remember interrupting what probably would've been a punishment when I first came here... Anyway, once the door slid open, we made our way towards the same room that I'd walked into. Well, flew into, if you wanna get technical.

"Sir! We have brought Coren Keitaro." The mayor turned in his swivel chair towards us, and I noticed he was smiling widely. It looked... Improper. It didn't go well with his demonic looking face, and his red eyes.

Wait... Weren't his eyes blue last time?

"Good. You may leave. I wish to speak to him in private." The two of the bowed deeply before disappearing out the door.

"...That sounds very ominous. If it's about the fight up on the roof, I know it was you standing there." He looked a slight bit surprised.

"I thought that I'd hidden myself perfectly."

"Yeah. No reiatsu was let in where you stood. But a spot completely free of reiatsu is a logical impossibility. You can hide yours, but when the world's is missing, it's easy to find ya."

"Well, thank you for that information. That may come to be useful later." Why is he being so cheerful? Something feels wrong about all this. "When you fought on the roof, I saw you summon that demon."

"**Who the Hell are you calling a demon?" **He can't hear you, idiot. You're in my head.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't refer to the representation of my sub-conscious as a demon. It's ever so slightly demoralizing."

"I see. Well then, let me rephrase it. I saw you summon Kuroi Chi no Kokuo, and it intrigued me. His appearance resembles that of a demon, and the power you wielded to destroy that beast were filled with dark energy. Why, pray tell, do you wield such a power, but align yourself with Heaven?"

"As I said before, I am only hear to gather information on the abnormality that is referred to as 'Ghost'. I am not aligned to any side, I simply am residing in that church as I have nowhere else."

"And if you were offered a better home than that dinky church?"

"Then I'd ask what the catch is." He chuckled a bit.

"And if there were none?"

"Then I'd decline. No thing in this world is free. I would expect a demon to be one of the first to realize this."

"And to exploit it." He smirked a bit, before turning slightly away in his swivel chair.

I need one of those. "I would like to offer you a home here, and all of the information that I can gather. The catch is that you must destroy those angels-"

"I decline." He sighed.

"I see. I will let you mull over your choice, and maybe have a change of heart."

"Those two have assisted me in combat, and I would most likely have lost against that Adjuchas without them." Not exactly true, they barely did anything, "I will not raise my blade to those whom my life is owed. That is a rule that I have always, and will always abide."

"Then your life is forfeit. I am a powerful man. You do not want me as your enemy."

"No, I don't. But if becoming your enemy is the result of this path, then you may as well raise your blade now. I will not break my rules." He turned back to me, and his eyes glowed like coals.

"...I see. You may leave." What? "I wished for us to be allies. But it would seem that you do not. Leave the premises immediately." I nodded, and turned around. I opened the door out, and I noticed that Scanty and Kneesocks had been eavesdropping the entire time. "But know this; If you reconsider, I will be here."

"I won't."

"That's what they all say." I walked into the elevator, and Scanty and Kneesocks quickly followed. They didn't speak at all for the minute it took to get to the lobby, but when we were there, they spoke.

"See you at school." I nodded, and held my hand at head-level in farewell. I walked out of the place, and sighed.

"That was... Probably really stupid of me." I spent only a few minutes in there, so I'd only been out for... 35 minutes? That's not enough. Time for more walking.

* * *

><p>I spent the next 6 hours wandering Daten City, and learned the layout of the place. It might help if something big happens. After all that walking, I finally just walked back to the church.<p>

"Yo, what's up Coren?"

"Hey Panty. I think I just seriously pissed off the demon side." Garter turned to look at me.

"How?"

"They tried to talk me into blasting Panty and Stocking into dust, and when I declined, he said that I'd made a powerful enemy. In general, the same way I always piss people off." I walked past them into my room, and sat down. My legs were already sore from the amount of bad landings on them I had in combat yesterday, and then I walked for six hours without rest. They ached quite a bit.

"I see. It is good to know that you did not join them."

"Damn right. Now then, I need sleep. Something big's probably gonna happen tomorrow, seeing as I'm finally back up, so I think you guy's should too." I leaned back and laid down, and Garter nodded. I think he said something after that, but I was already out like a light, drifting into sleep. This time, though, it wasn't dreamless.

* * *

><p>"Yo." I looked around. I was standing in my Inner World. It was the same as always; The flat plain, covered with broken swords, and coated with blood turned black. Two perfect circles were devoid of either blade or blood, and that was where we stood.<p>

"What's up Kain?" Kain rested his sword on his shoulder, and sighed.

"It's not Kain. Not right now, anyway. In this world, I am the King of Black Blood. I brought you here for a reason; You subdued him a while back. But this place is dragging him back to you. You aren't like the others. Soon, he will awaken once more, and you shall fight him again. But here in Daten City, a town swallowed by death and despair, can you truly fight the darkness within you?" The black blood around us began to bubble. "Your Inner Hollow, as they call it. Can you finally win?"

"..." I sighed, and didn't respond. What could I say, anyway?

Gaining the powers of Kuroi Chi no Kokuo is not an easy task. He is the Lord of Darkness, the King of Blackened Blood. To gain Bankai, you must beat him into submission, and then you must fight yourself. A representation of the darkness within one's soul, commonly referred to as an 'Inner Hollow'. I defeated Kuroi, but I could never defeat myself. Memories of life dragged me down like anchors, and memories of death even more so.

"I see. When he comes to fight you, if you lose, you won't even be worthy of a seated position. Be ready, Coren Keitaro. All of your power lies within me; Losing me will be a worse fate then death." I scoffed.

"Talk about egotistical."

"Egotistical or not, it is the truth. A swordsman is nothing without his blade." He has a point there.

"So you're just here to warn me about His rising?" Kuroi nodded.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, you're sleeping. What else can we do?" I shrugged.

"You have a point. Either way, soon, I'm getting up. Thanks for the info, Kuroi."

"It was no problem, sir." Kuroi disintegrated, and with him, the black blood disappeared as well. I stood there, on the hill of shattered swords, and delved into my memory. Watching our last fight will do me well, I hope.

* * *

><p>I floated there, standing high above the battlefield. It was the same as ten seconds ago, but right now, it was clear of shattered weaponry. And on that field stood two men; Me, and Kage Ryuu, the Shadow Dragon. I lowered myself, and listened.<p>

"**Are you ready to die?"**

"Nah, not really." Coren (Past me will be named in third person) chuckled and rested his blade on his shoulder. "But I'm good for a little scrap."

"**Tch, insolent pup. You mock me?"**

"Yeah. You got a problem wit' that?" Kage Ryuu ground his teeth.

"**Let us see if you're as skilled with your blade as you are at running your mouth, boy."**

"...Damn, I don't have a tasteful quip for that." Coren leaned slightly forward in thought, and absentmindedly blocked the slash from behind. He pushed Kage Ryuu away, and turned around. "Great, there goes my train of thought, ya prick." Hrm, I definitely let my accent out a bit more back then. Prick? Scrap? I mean really now.

"**Shut up and fight me."**

"I don't wanna." Coren blocked the next strike, but Kage Ryuu quickly slashed again with the black blood on the battlefield. Some of it formed a black tendril, and shot towards Coren with great speed. He managed to dodge out of the way in time, but he only ended up dodging right into another one. "That's not fair!" He slashed through the tendril, and the blood returned to it's liquid form.

"**I never said this would be a fair fight."**

"Touché." Coren managed to keep himself from being hit by the tendrils, but he never had a chance to throw an attack in, so it was just a small endurance race for the next two minutes. While interesting when you're nearly dying, not so much when you're just watching from above.

"Buraddokain, Light!" With a brief burst of light, Coren activated Shikai, and the tendrils disappeared. He dashed forwards and slashed at Kage Ryuu, but he easily blocked with his sword. It looked reminiscent of a medieval short-sword, but it's blade was slightly curved inwards at the center, and there was a large ruby in the hilt. The inwards curve of the blade was a crimson red, but it seemed to darken when they clashed blades.

"**Pitiful." **Coren was launched backwards when Kage Ryuu pushed his blade forward, letting out a wave of dark energy.

"Buraddokain, Ice!" Coren dodged past a flying tendril, and managed to freeze it in place while doing so. "That's one tendril that won't make me look like Swiss cheese..." Coren darted for Kage Ryuu, but when he stepped in the black blood, it creeped along his leg. I reflexively clutched my leg as I remembered what followed. I managed to create a solid spear of ice, and Kage Ryuu was impaled on it, but it didn't kill him.

"**Nice try. Not nice enough." **The black blood shot along his leg, and covered up to his thigh, before crushing downwards. The bone shattered almost instantly, and the pressure was enough to damage the muscles beyond natural repair. Though, for a Shinigami, that just means a few weeks with one leg.

"AAAAHHHGH!" Coren tried to leap backwards, but he failed as he only had one leg to jump on. He tripped over his own leg, and fell over. Kage Ryuu smirked as he walked over.

"**How pathetically short. I expected more from you, boy." **Oh yeah? I smirked as I watched them.

"Shut your mouth... Or better idea..." Coren formed another spear of ice. "Lemme shut it for you!" His head was impaled, but when he was stabbed, he only faded into darkness.

"**Nice touch. You're still going to die though, you do know that, don't you?"**

"Fuck that noise." Coren stood up, and ran as much reiatsu into his leg as possible, and re-calibrated it for healing. "I'm perfectly fine. I'm gonna win this fight, and you're gonna die. Painfully, if possible." Kage Ryuu laughed.

"**Whatever you say." **His sarcastic tone made me want to beat the shit out of him, but I settled with just watching. I'm pretty sure I can't interrupt my memories like that anyway.

Coren forced himself up, and used his reiatsu as a make-shift leg and splint. He ran with one leg and pushed off with reiatsu in order to keep himself balanced as he charged at where the voice came from. Kage Ryuu blocked the sword, and became visible again.

"Here's a tip; When you're hiding like a little bitch, don't talk." Coren swung his sword into Kage Ryuu's repeatedly, pushing him back. Anytime the tendrils of darkness came near him, they'd turn to ice and fall, and shatter of the ground before hitting him.

"**You can't beat me with only Shikai and four of the elements, Keitaro. Buraddokain; Spread fear and darkness through the minds of my foes. Bankai." **Reiatsu collected around Kage Ryuu's blade, and with an explosion of light, which then completely disappeared and changed to darkness, Coren as sent hurtling back, his Zanpakuto shattered. The shards hit the ground next to him, and Coren spit out some blood.

"Nice little parlor trick you have there." Coren pushed himself up, and coughed. "But that didn't do nutin'." Kage Ryuu frowned.

"**There's a fine line between acceptably stubborn, and committing suicide. That was nothing but the ken'atsu. Do you think you can contend with me, when the wind pressure of a single swing nearly incapacitated you?"**

"Damn right, I think I can. You've been hitching a ride for not even God knows how long, and you don't think I'm that stupid? You compliment my intelligence, and I don't take kindly to that." Coren threw in a joke as he took a stance. "Besides; If you can pull off some bullshit fake Bankai power, then I will too." Coren held his hand in front of him, and recited what he heard Kage Ryuu say.

"Spread dear and darkness through the minds of my foes." Kage Ryuu laughed.

"**I'm almost tempted to pity you. You can not use-"**

"Bankai. Buraddokain, Element Change. Electricity." A sword formed in Coren's arm and Kage Ryuu gave the normal response.

"**That's a load of bull crap." **Coren charged forwards yet again, and slammed his sword into Kage Ryuu's. When they collided, Kage Ryuu obviously felt the shock of a few thousand watts of electricity being forced through his body, but it didn't seem to damage him physically. **"Ha, that isn't Bankai! That's just some cheap replica."** He slammed his sword into Coren, and shattered it as he sent him flying. **"See? They break in a single blow."**

"Buraddokain; Fire." Another blade appeared, and Coren dragged himself up again. He repeated this cycle continously for a long time; Break the sword, make a new one, attack, rinse and repeat. It was about two minutes later that Coren collapsed.

"**Finally. That was getting boring." **Kage Ryuu walked towards Coren. **"I'd applaud your ability to continuously make new swords, but that would imply it is a talent that not just anyone can do." **Coren smirked, and I did as well. I liked to think back to this one part.

"Yeah, maybe. But tell me something; How's ten to the chest at once?" Kage Ryuu's eyes widened as they materialized mere millimeters away, and impaled him. He'd had no time to dodge. Coren rolled and put a few inches between him and Kage Ryuu before chuckling. "You just played like a drum, bitch." Kage Ryuu scowled.

"**This is little more than a flesh wound,"** he said as he tried to pull out one of the several almost broadsword sized blades from his body. **"This won't even slow me down."**

"Actually, there's all Ice element. So, I think you're gonna get slowed quite a bit, really." The blades began to coat his body in ice, and even as he struggled, it was ten blades continuously creating it. It was faster than he could destroy it. "Let's finish this off with my biggest move." Coren created one more sword, and spoke again.

"Kage-ō no Kyanon!" I fuckin' love that move. "Eat this!" Coren forced the entire sword into a state of condensed reiatsu, and thrust it into Kage Ryuu with much vigor. Kage Ryuu coughed out a large amount of black blood, but he still smiled.

"**I am born of darkness. Striking me with more of what I'm made of will only make me stronger."**

"Buraddokain; Light. Lock, Holy Chains." And there went Kage Ryuu's giant-ass grin. The ten swords turned into golden chains and quickly wrapped around his body. "Yeah, I can't kill you. But you can't break these seals for at least a few hundred years, and by then, I'll be strong enough to kick your arse halfway 'cross the planet." Coren smirked. Sure, it was an incredibly anti-climactic finish, but it got the job done.

"**These chains will not hold me long. I will be back, boy."**

"Yeah yeah yeah, and you will have vengeance. I watched that movie too. Shut up and and be sealed already, wouldja?" Coren turned away, and Kage Ryuu disappeared in a small flash of light. "...I'm in a world of pain." He spoke to nobody in particular as he collapsed. His leg was broken, several ribs were made into silly putty, one of his lungs was missing and he could only breathe thanks to his reiatsu making a barrier to stem the bleeding, and his arm was scorched black from the Kage-ō no Kyanon. I ran my hand over my arm as I looked at the marks.

"I'm glad those weren't permanent. That would've seriously sucked. Actually, I'm glad this was all a dream in the first place. Wait... This battle took place in a dream, and I'm watching that dream, while in a dream... Whelp, there goes my brain." I stood up, and everything faded to black, as the memory ended. "I should wake up now, shouldn't I?" I looked around, and only saw darkness. "Yeah, that sounds fun." I bid goodbye to the world of dreams, and let myself awaken.

Man, I hope today isn't as eventful as my sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yo, hey guys. Uh... I can't think of anything to say here, so I'll just point it out;**

**I'm really fucking tired. If it seems clumsily written in the last few paragraphs, tell me. I can edit it later, when I'm not so damn tired.**

**So, uh... Yeah. Here's a Chapter. Enjoy. I'm off to the bed that I've spent the last few hours hiding from.**


	6. Demons of the Past

**A/N: I would like to apologize about not posting a chapter in so long. I would like to give a valid excuse about how I couldn't, but really, nothing true can validate how long this took. I would like to say, though, to those reading this:**

**I am incredibly thankful for the time you put into reading this. I have a small bit of an inferiority complex about my writing, so seeing that people actually read and liked this brings me immense joy. Thank you.**

**Secondly, I would like to point out that, due to how long I spent doing nothing about the story, the story probably won't be following the original plot I laid out; since I never wrote anything down, I forgot it all already. I can already see a large difference between the start of the chapter (written right after the last chapter) and the later parts, written after my little time-skip.**

**Third: This chapter focuses almost completely on original content, so for a good chunk of the chapter, there won't be any Angels or Demons, and it'll be really serious.**

**Finally, I was listening to the song 'Blumenkranz', from the Kill la Kill OST, for most of the chapter. The link is here, if you want to listen to it: watch?v=3jQXV5VpCkM**

**I hope you enjoy the story, everybody.**

* * *

><p>I opened my eyes, making eye-contact with Garter. Seriously, it's like this guy just stands in the doorway all of the time just to be there when I wake up.<p>

"Yo," I said, pulling myself up. "What's up? Hollow comin' this way?"

Garter stared at me quietly for a moment, completely silent.

He stood like that for a good minute, before saying "No," and walking away.

Tilting my head to the side, I muttered "Something's up with him…"

"**No duh, man; he's named **_**Garter Belt **_**and even with those girls in his home, he's made no moves on them!"**

"I didn't mean that, idiot…"

I sighed, shaking my head before standing and walking out of the room. Looking around, I noticed that neither of the girls were there, so I closed my eyes and focused my reiatsu, searching for them.

…They're both in their rooms, probably sleeping if their energy ratings mean anything. With a quick check of the clock, I verified that we're to be at school in a matter of minutes, making me curse. No breakfast today, it seems.

I Shunpo'd to Panty's door, knocking on it and yelling

"Yo, wake that ass up; it's time to head to school."

I quickly did the same with Stocking, before leaving the church.

I know; leaving them was probably rude, but I had no plans to be late, and I was _not _getting back in See-Through. That was horrifying enough the first time.

I blasted forward with Shunpo, keeping my eyes out for anything out of the ordinary.

As expected, absolutely nothing was normal here, so that was actually rather pointless.

I softly landed at the school just as I heard the terrifying rev of See-Through's engine.

Looking behind me, my eyes widened. I would've screamed like a bitch, but instead I got a face-full of pink Jeep right in the stomach.

I flew backwards, bouncing off the ground before slamming into a wall, clutching my core as I dropped.

"Oh crap, are you alright!?" Panty yelled out, leaping out of her car.

"Note… To self…" I said loud enough for her to hear. "Hollows, Ghosts, Demons? All fine. Angels with car keys? Never… Again…"

Panty sweat-dropped, but didn't retort as I pulled myself onto my feet.

"Coren!"

I turned my head, seeing two familiar red-heads charging at me, only to stand between me and Panty.

"Where in the world did _you _get a driver's liscense!?" Scanty yelled, glaring at her. "That sort of hit could've killed someone! I suppose I'm not surprised, though; the _only _thing you seem to be good at is getting fucked!"

Panty growled, about to yell right back, but the bell began to ring.

"Save the animosity for after school," I said calmly, my reiatsu already dealing with the healing process.

"But-" I raised my hand, stopping Kneesock's statement.

"The mayor's daughters mustn't be late for class; are you not supposed to role models for others to follow?"

She pursed her lips, before nodding.

"Of course. Come, sister," she said, placing her hand on Scanty's shoulder. "Will we be seeing you at the cafeteria, Coren?"

I shrugged.

"I make no promises, either for or against."

Hearing that, she nodded, leading Scanty away.

I stood up, looking up at the two angels with an annoyed glare.

"Pay more attention while driving, Panty; if I were anything but myself, I would've become a red smear on the wall."

Panty tightened her jaw, looking down at the floor. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that she actually feels bad.

I turned on my heel, walking away while deep in thought.

I rounded a corner, before feeling a pressure in my chest.

Leaning against the wall, I started coughing heavily, blood splattering across my palm.

Black blood.

Gritting my teeth, I clenched my hand into a fist.

"**It's only going to get worse as time goes on," **Kain said, unusually somber. **"The darkness of this place…"**

Spitting to the side, I grit my teeth. This was not good…

'Kain, run damage control; I can't let anyone see me like this,' I mentally commanded him.

I could feel Kain pause, but the pressure went away quickly.

"**I'm warning you, Coren," **he said softly, **"If you let the corruption of this city continue seeping into you, you will only become weaker. Can you face off against Kage Ryuu, your inner darkness, when an outer darkness swallows you?"**

I cut the connection, silencing him.

I don't have time for this. I need to find away to let go of the shadows…

The bell for class rang, and I cussed as I used Shunpo to arrive at the door to the classroom. It only took a moment to right that mask; the persona of aloofness.

It only needed to last a while, at least.

* * *

><p><em>Blood.<em>

_It stains the walls, its pattern like a vermillion rose._

_A black blade._

_Its nature of perversion, of corruption unending._

_A man._

_A weak, frail thing, subject to the whims of the self and the world._

_Stone._

_Strong, stalwart, unwavering; it is the foundation._

_The blood covered the walls, and the blade was in the man._

_Crimson, dripping slowly; this was Fate._

_Words; five sounds, indecipherable by all but one: He who spoke them first._

"_For love, all things die."_

* * *

><p>With a sudden jerk, I shot up in his seat.<p>

"Oh, good; you're awake," the teacher said in a dry, clipped tone. "Did you sleep well, Mr. Keitaro?"

I didn't hear her.

I had to get out.

I needed to escape.

I tried to stand, but the pressure returned in full force.

Clutching my chest with one hand, I covered my mouth with the other as I coughed forcefully.

The black blood came out again, and I could faintly hear Kain cursing.

When I lowered my hand, the student to my right saw my hand. He said something about blood; the class started getting concerned. The teacher asked if I was alright, but my vision was swimming.

And then, just as suddenly as it struck, the pressure faded.

"I'm sorry," I gasped out, leaving the classroom as quickly as I could.

I heard something fall over from inside as I left; someone was following me.

'Damnit…' I closed my eyes tightly. 'Why did it…?'

"**As a spiritual being, we're susceptible to the effects of the darkness in more ways than a human," **Kain said. **"It's why you're coughing… And why you saw it again.**

"**It's why you saw yourself die."**

The pressure hit again, and I stumbled. The walls, covered with lockers and garish paint, flickered between normalcy and that vermillion-stained stone.

It was chasing me again; the blade stained black by crusted blood and the shadows of the Devil, it hounded after its mark.

"_**Hello beautiful."**_

The pressure became crushing in that moment, as if my entire chest were caving in on itself.

That voice…

That unforgettable voice…

"COREN!"

A scream caught me off-guard; the pressure faded again, and I collapsed to the floor.

Black crept on the edges of my vision.

He was calling me back.

"I…"

I grit my teeth, shutting my eyes tight.

"I don't wanna go back there…!"

And then it all went black.

* * *

><p>"Love!" a voice called out.<p>

He turned, smiling at the speaker.

"Elizabeth!" he returned, pulling the girl close as she ran up.

_Vermillion stone._

"How have you been?" she asked, her voice like a falling lotus in its changing height and pitch. "I missed you, love…"

He laughed softly. Jen was a good head shorter than him; with her hands around his chest, they looked more like brother and sister than lovers; their differing hair color notwithstanding, of course.

He ran his hand through her hair, smiling down at her as she nuzzled closer into his embrace.

These moments were the ones he wished to last forever.

_A crimson rose._

"I missed you too, my little one," he said, lowering his head to whisper it into her ear. "A week away from home, from you, is like an eternity."

He didn't need to look at her face to see it flush with red as she hugged him tighter. He tweaked her ear softly as he stroked her hair, smiling as she whimpered at the touch.

"How has your week been, my little one?" he asked.

Muffled murmurs went, unheard, into his chest.

"Speak up now," he chided her softly.

"Something's going on," she said, her voice almost silent. "They've been finding… People…"

She shuddered and her grip tightened.

Whatever was going on was scaring her.

He grit his teeth together.

"It is alright," he said, a growl barely constrained.

He pulled her out slightly, bending his knees so that he could look in her eyes; the fear in them was evident.

"I will _never _allow anything to hurt you," he said, his voice unwavering as steel.

But this only made her quiver more.

"They… Found them dead," she said, her voice breaking. "Seven men, one after another, found dead at noon of each day… And they were brothers."

His eyes widened.

"I… You have to run," she said, her body shaking as she broke eye-contact. "T-The killer left a message i-in…"

He placed a finger on her lips, silencing her.

"Calm yourself, little one," he said with a smile. "There is nothing to fear; at least, not right now."

She took a deep breath, her, admittedly small, chest raising and falling as she smoothed out the snow-white and yellow dress she wore.

"Now, what is this message?"

She took a second breath, before saying

"He spelled it out…" She closed her eyes, tears threatening to spill over. "…With the entrails of the dead."

A cold chill ran down his spine.

"It said… 'I have her'." She hugged him tightly, and said, beginning to sob, "We couldn't find your sister…"

His spine was ice.

His… Sister…

Red tinged his vision.

"Where is he?" he asked, his voice a cold steel.

"L-Love, I don't think-"

"Where is he?" he asked again, his tone unchanged.

"You can't fight him!" she yelled, pulling away from him and looking at him with tearful eyes. "He killed all of your brothers, and there were no signs he was even hurt!"

He looked down at her. Sadness filled him at seeing her like this.

But again, all he could do was ask

"Where is he?"

Tears hit the ground, and she clenched her hands tight.

"He-" A pause. "He'll strike before dawn; he will want you ready before noon."

She looked up at him.

"Please, I beg you…" She grabbed him again. "Leave, before it's too late. We- We can leave now; we'd be long gone before the killer could-"

"I have to do this," he said, his voice a whisper. "For my brothers, and for my sister…"

He bent over and picked up his petite lover, kissing her softly on the lips as he held her.

"It has been no more than 8 hours since noon… We have time left for us, do we not?" he asked, smiling.

They returned to their home; they drank, the spoke, and they shared their love. In the end, though, all things come to an end.

The dawn would come soon, and all would end with the rising sun.

* * *

><p>He had awoken an hour before dawn; his wife slept away, softly slumbering as he donned his clothing and left.<p>

She had told him that all the bodies were found in the square; how they arrived there in the midst of noon without a single person noticing, none knew.

But it was here that his search began.

He had spent some time searching for his sister and the killer before, eventually, he found something.

A large building, craft of stone by the finest masons in the town, and upon the door was written in a reddish, copper-smelling lettering,

"_**I've been waiting."**_

The door, made of strong pine wood, was sent several feet forward as he planted his foot against it.

But what he saw when the door collapsed was wrong.

_Vermillion stone._

_A black blade._

He looked at her body; only 8 years old, his little sister lay in a crimson circle. The sight of what was left of her made him want to collapse.

But he couldn't. For the one who stood above his sisters eviscerated corpse had him frozen in fear.

Black skin, red eyes; a demon, contentedly chewing something that oozed crimson.

It slowly turned its head, still its teeth gnashing against something of his sister's, and it slowly grinned its impossible grin, flesh between its teeth and red dripping from its lips.

And as he made eye-contact with this construct of the Devil, for what else could it be, he could think only one thing.

_**Run.**_

Both his mind and soul screamed for him to run, but his body was weak, was frozen by crippling fear.

Fear of this unnatural demon, fear of the fate that lies before him, fear that it might be the same as his sisters, and fear…

Fear that he would leave his love all alone for life everlasting.

And then, it moved, taking a step towards its new prey, and the spell was broken.

He moved with haste, running as this hound of hell began to chase; the sound it gave as it pursued him, so much like the laughter of children, only made panic flood him ever-further.

Had he been in his right mind, perhaps he could've escaped through the door that he'd knocked down; but the primal fear only led him further into the stone prison; a simple layout that might as well have been labyrinthine to his fearful mind.

But he could only run for so long, before he had to pause, now unable to feel the eyes of the beast looking upon him.

But just as he came to a stop, he heard it.

That voice…

"_**Hello, beautiful."**_

And he looked over his shoulder, seeing the eyes looking at him now.

But they were not the beast's; they were far more lifeless.

The golden-brown eyes, once boring into his soul pleasantly as he looked into them, now saw nothing.

A head, with a face stained by tears, held by the beast; a head that belonged on a petite body, that belonged to the one that was his; the head that belonged on the one who was his love.

"E-Eliz-"

Crimson filled his sight and covered his face, gray splattering the floor as the head disappeared.

He couldn't call it anything else. He knew what happened to her head, but he could not understand. If he did, he would surely break as glass under a hammer.

But she disappeared. His love disappeared, for nothing else could it be, and the beast was the cause.

She must have come to find him, unable to leave him to face his fate alone.

All he could do was run forward, and he grabbed the beast by its disgusting, crimson maw and dragged it forward. With a bestial scream he began to strike, but in the end, it was to no avail.

He felt something begin to carve open his back, something disgusting; something that pervaded his very being.

Heat; searing, flaming heat was what he felt in his back, before the beast grew tired of his ineffectual beating.

Hurling him away, he slammed into the wall with force, splattering blood against the wall in a pattern as he fell to the ground.

_A vermillion rose upon the stone._

His strength sapped as his lifeforce flowed to the ground, he looked up, and as he looked at the beast before him, he knew his time had come.

It grinned its Cheshire grin, saying one more thing.

"_**Hello, beautiful…"**_

He felt something move into his chest. The pain was both blinding and deafening, and yet, over the sounds of his own screams, he could hear it say those two words again and again and again.

It ripped open his belly and began to feast, uncaring that one of its tendrils still remained in his chest.

A tendril, sharp as a knife and the color of pitch.

_The black blade was in the man._

But then, suddenly, the beast stopped.

He could not find out why, at first. But then, he saw it.

He had a knife in his hands, and the blade was in the Beast's neck.

And it keeps coming out, and then plunging back in, and screaming was heard. At first, he thought it was the beast, but it was not. He screamed ever louder than the childish shrieks the beast gave out.

The knife was driven in again, and again, and again, and again, until the beast stopped moving, and then still he drove it in until all rage, hate, and strength left him.

As he stopped, he looked around; his mind was calm, at-peace, even as his death drew ever-nearer.

His family was gone _**(DEAD)**_, his lover had left him _**(DEVOURED)**_, and he lay there, beneath the vermillion rose and upon the crimson stone, a blade in his chest and a beast at his side.

All he could think to say in the final moments of his life were,

"So demons bleed black, huh…?"

And then, all was black.

* * *

><p>"Coren!?" she screamed, watching him collapse on the ground.<p>

"I… I don't wanna go…" she heard him say.

She stopped beside him, panicking.

"What did you do to him!?" she heard Panty scream.

"Nothing!" Kneesocks yelled back. "I… I don't know what's going on!"

She looked at the angels, and did the first thing that came to mind.

"Help me!" she yelled. "We need to get him somewhere to rest!"

It wasn't until later that she realized she had asked the angels for help, and all through the future she would deny whole-heartedly.

Panty ran up and helped her lift him, and Scanty and Stocking helped them get to the demon's limo.

She could hear murmurings from Coren and at times, he tried to throw them off weakly, but they controlled his thrashings.

When they got him inside the car, they had the driver, Fastener, head to the hospital.

But even with his high-speed driving, they could do nothing until they arrive, except watch him thrash in his sleep, listen to his screams, and watch him bleed black blood.

* * *

><p>Two weeks.<p>

It had been two weeks since he had died at the hands of that demon.

Now, he sat in the corner of a house he didn't recognize, holding himself.

When he had awoken after death those weeks ago, he had found a chain attached to his chest; a chain that had once tethered his soul to his body. Since then, his chain had devoured itself slowly, but now, as he looked down, he knew things had changed.

His chain had reached its last chain-link yesterday; he had half a mind to scream when the chain suddenly became covered with mouths and began to devour itself, ripping itself to shreds until nothing remained.

At least, almost nothing.

If this chain was his tether to life, now severed, then it must then be his humanity, and his new body his soul. So long as he clung to that tiny part of the chain, the last fraction of his humanity, the final mouth would not turn inwards and devour itself and him, turning him into a demon.

This was his belief as he rested in an abandoned house, holding this last fraction of his humanity in his hand.

But this could not last forever. His death, if nothing else, had been proof that nothing lasts forever.

And he could feel his faith begin to waver. His soul was losing itself as time went on, his grip slackened, and all that held him together now was that single-minded faith in the strength of the immortal human soul.

But immortality is an impossibility, an unattainable beauty. This is what he tries to forget.

Now, though, he realizes his folly.

How well had running from the beast, had running from death helped him? All he had done was delay the inevitable.

But when he fought…

When he fought, he had taken the beast with him. The beast would never again hurt someone; he had saved his town, he had avenged himself, and vengeance for his family and his love was dealt.

It was time to stop running.

In the one hand he held his chain, and in the other, the black tendril that had killed him, which he had ripped from his chest, just above the chain, upon awakening.

He finally let go of his chain and, with an unholy, bestial scream, he felt the pain.

But he would not yield.

He had faced down a hound from Hell as it ripped him open, and this burn was nothing compared to that.

He had been eaten alive, tendrils from the Devil's envoy had flayed the flesh from his back.

This burning pain his chest was no worse than the tendril in his hand had hurt, and he had drowned that out to kill the beast.

Now, he would find that which had stolen his humanity, seeking within himself, and he would claim it again, ignoring the pain.

And eventually?

He found it.

* * *

><p>It had been some time since he died. He had stopped counting the days long ago when he couldn't remember if it had been 6050, or 6060.<p>

When he found his humanity, he had met someone within his soul.

It called itself his Inner Darkness; the dragon of his heart, now stained black by the demon that sought to kill him.

It had his humanity, and it had returned it, saying that it would be more fun to watch his tribulations than to have it end there.

And so, he had begun a journey. When he had reclaimed his humanity, then tendril in his hand had begun to warp to his will, and now, at his side, he carried with him a blade as black as pitch that pervaded the soul.

He had found many monsters in these last two weeks, and with this blade of black blood, he had carved through them leaving them bleeding messes that could no longer harm the innocent.

It was this way wherever he went. He found a village, and he found a man who had failed to take his humanity back and succumbed to the darkness.

Those who fell for the Devil's wiles would get no mercy.

He was sitting calmly in the middle of the desert, this night; the night that someone found him.

His black blade across his lap, his raven hair moving in the soft, arid breeze; this was how he was when he heard someone walking up.

He turned his head to the one that was there, and he saw a middle-aged man; his face was unlike that which he had seen before. In the form of it, he could see a strong warrior from a distant land.

"My name is Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto," the warrior had told him, "And I have come to take you to the Soul Society."

He had welcomed the invitation from this Yamamoto; he worked alongside him for some time following that.

He did not count the years that passed under Yamamoto's service. He could hardly remember many of them; he had lived only for the next conflict for so long, it was a good millennium before he managed to stop this.

It was even longer still before he began to enjoy this new 'life' after death. It had taken Yamamoto forcing him to become a teacher in this new 'Shinigami Academy', and even then, decades more of experience.

But throughout it all, during those short times where he donned a Gigai and slept, he saw it; the dragon of his shadow-clad heart, who always watched him knowingly from within.

Despite his age, it had only been several centuries before his mission to Daten City that he had awoken his Shikai; he never spoke to his sword, after all. It was the very weapon that killed him.

Perhaps that it why the blade developed a mind of its own; unlike the Zanpakuto, which took the subconscious of the wielder and gave it form, his blade once had form, once had life, before being claimed.

And perhaps that is why the blade's spirit was so eccentric; its wielder had never allowed himself such emotions as lust, and the blade had taken it all on, and it was with this blades help that he had sealed his Inner Darkness, the Kage Ryuu.

Now, though, the Shadow Dragon threatened to rise again, and that was not acceptable. But the only way to truly defeat your shadow is to embrace it as one with yourself; even after these slow-passing millennia, he still had been able to accept it.

How could he accept that it was a part of him, but born of these beast that had taken everything he had loved in his life?

How could he accept the child of his murderer as himself, and allow himself to let go of the past that endlessly haunts his dreams?

If he did not let go of his past, he would be swallowed by the shadows he had let into his heart.

And now, in this city built upon the fault-line between Heaven and Hell, this land pervaded by the shadows and the damned; in this land of perversion of nihilism, the shadows within only grew in strength, and threatened to take him.

The final battle between the soldier and the dragon draws near, and the shadow cast already encompasses the field.

Let the battle begin.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alright, so time to say a few things.**

**First: Yes, Coren is actually one of the oldest known Shinigami, though technically, he isn't a 'proper' Shinigami. He never had an Asauchi, so his blade didn't take on his emotions the same way. His blade already had a part of a consciousness in it, as it was once organic, but it ended up absorbing all of the emotions that Coren discarded, rather than that which he felt. This meant that he became the polar opposite of Coren, though over the last few centuries, they set aside their differences and developed a similar relationship as with normal Zanpakuto and their wielders.**

**The reason he isn't hailed as an a person of high-regard in Soul Society, even though he predates most Shinigami, is something that will be addressed later in the plot, if your curious.**

**Also, I would like to point out that 'the beast' that killed Coren when he was still alive is not a Hollow (it had the wrong appearance), and it's not a ghost either, even though it did have the right color.**

**Other than all of that… Well, I suppose there isn't much that comes to mind, besides saying that this chapter was way more serious than I meant it to be. I just found this old file, opened it up, and… I'm not sure what I did, I just ended up having a finished file five hours later.**

**Any advice, criticism, or anything of that sort is welcome, and if anyone has any questions about the story, review and ask, or PM me. I'll do my best to respond as quickly as I can.**


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